Department for Transport

Pedestrian Areas: Safety

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support visually impaired people through reducing street furniture.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department is working to address the problems street clutter can create for vulnerable pedestrians, in particular those with visual impairments. Local authorities are responsible for managing their roads, including the provision of street furniture. The Department provides good practice guidance in 'Inclusive Mobility' on access to pedestrian and transport infrastructure. Section 3 relates to access to footways, footpaths and pedestrian areas. ‘Inclusive Mobility’ is available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-mobility The Department is in the process of updating ‘Inclusive Mobility’, and has research underway to inform this. The research is due to conclude by the end of this year, and the updates to the guidance will follow at a later date. The control of advertising, including the use of A-boards, is a matter for my colleagues in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Railways: Japanese Knotweed

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to prevent the growth of knotweed along railway lines.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Network Rail is responsible for managing Japanese Knotweed in order to run a safe and reliable railway. The settlement agreed between my Department and Network Rail for England and Wales in the years 2019-2024 contains a substantial provision for operations and maintenance. This provides the funding for the removal of Japanese Knotweed. The government is committed to improving biodiversity in the UK. We have provided Network Rail with ambitious targets to enhance biodiversity across the lineside estate and they are currently developing a strategy to deliver on these ambitions. Rail infrastructure is a devolved matter in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Railways: Standards

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's policy paper, Rail network enhancements pipeline: autumn 2019 update, published on 16 October 2019, when he plans to publish the (a) timescales and (b) costs for the development of those schemes.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The inclusion of an individual scheme in the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) Update does not guarantee its delivery. The Government subjects each scheme to continual assessment for it to progress to the next stage of the pipeline. There are no plans to publish the timescales and costs of schemes separately.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason his Department has not encouraged the use of approved automated traffic cone machine, Conemaster, on the strategic road network.

George Freeman: It is for Highways England and its suppliers to determine which cone deployment systems are used on the Strategic Road Network.

Electric Vehicles: Bicycles

Mr Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 7 October 2019 to Question 293525 on Bicycles: Electric Vehicles, what information his Department holds on the geographical distribution of the take up of those incentives; and which local authorities have made an application under that programme.

Chris Heaton-Harris: 84 applications were received by the end of September. The geographic distribution of these applications shows that the largest number are from London (33), with the rest spread across the East (5), South East (16), South West (12), Midlands (6), Yorkshire & North East (6) and North West (6). No applications have been received from local authorities as this element of the scheme has not yet opened for applications.

Taxis: Disability

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timeframe is for the introduction of National Minimum Standards on disability awareness training for drivers of taxi and private hire vehicles.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: We will continue to engage with the sector on our plans to reform the regulation of taxis and private hire vehicles, including the introduction of national minimum standards in licensing, and will bring forward further measures in due course.

Department for Transport: Health

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department uses Office for National Statistics estimates of personal well-being in formulating policy; and what policies his Department has introduced to improve personal well-being in the past 12 months.

Chris Heaton-Harris: This Government recognises the important role transport plays in connecting communities, which is why we have committed £72 billion in capital spending over the five years until 2020/21. In the past 12 months the Department for Transport has also introduced several initiatives that contribute to improving personal well-being. Reflecting buses’ vital role in connecting communities and reducing isolation, in September 2019 the Government announced a £220 million package to transform bus services. This included £30 million extra funding for local authorities to enable them to improve current bus services or to restore lost services. This funding is additional to the over £2 billion of existing public sector support for buses. In the Government’s 2018 Loneliness Strategy the Department made several commitments, including:Building partnerships with transport providers and community groups who are developing initiatives for how transport can be used as a means for tackling lonelinessPutting the need for inclusive transport at the heart of our approach to the Future of Mobility Grand ChallengeSupporting community groups wishing to make use of unused or underused railway propertyProviding funding to the Community Transport Association for driver training, recognising the key role they play in connecting their local communityWorking with seven Mobility Centres in England to pilot ‘community hubs’ which will help support those that are at risk of loneliness In July 2019, Nusrat Ghani announced the following as part of the one year anniversary of the Inclusive Transport Strategy:That 73 stations would receive a share of £300 million for the Access for All Fund, delivering accessibility improvements between 2019 and 2024That 22 Motorway Service Areas will receive a share of a £2 million fund, run in partnership with Muscular Dystrophy UK, for fully accessible Changing Places toilet facilitiesThe extension of the Blue Badge eligibility criteria to include people with non-visible disabilities The Government is also committed to increasing cycling and walking and making our roads safer for vulnerable users – our aim is to double cycling and increase walking by 2025. Almost £2 billion is therefore being invested in cycling and walking over this Parliament through the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy. In the development of policy, the Department uses a wide range of evidence, including data from across ONS sources. We are continuing to build our understanding in this area and plan to shortly publish a social behavioural literature review into the impact of transport on wellbeing.

Department for Transport: Public Appointments

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which public appointments he is responsible for.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The public appointments that the Department is responsible for making are set out in the Schedule to the Public Appointments Order in Council2019. https://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019-Public-Appointments-Order-In-Council.pdf

Tonnage Tax

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many ratings were trained on tonnage tax qualifying vessels in 2018-19.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: To date we have recorded 25 ratings as having received training from companies within the UK Tonnage Tax scheme during the 2018-19 training year. Though some companies are yet to file their final returns, we do not expect this figure to change significantly.

Department for Transport: Brexit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2019 to Question 70, how many full impact assessments for measures greater than £5 million his Department has undertaken.

Chris Heaton-Harris: DfT has completed and published four full impact assessments for EU Exit measures.

Department for Transport: Equal Pay

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many equal pay reviews there have been in his Department since 2010; what the dates were of those reviews; and whether his Department plans to undertake an equal pay review in 2019.

Chris Heaton-Harris: An Equal Pay Review was undertaken in 2015. An external service provider has been appointed to undertake a further Review, with work expected to be completed before the end of 2019.

Department for Transport: Pay

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the pay system in his Department has been changed to take account of the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling on Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council v Mr G Willetts and Others on holiday pay and voluntary overtime; and whether affected workers in his Department have been given back pay as a result of that ruling.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Officials have begun discussions with the Departmental Trade Unions on making the relevant changes. Future meetings will include the Unite Union, who represent drivers in the Government Car Service.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will list all payments to WS Atkins for work (a) on and (b) about High Speed Two made by (i) his Department and (ii) HS2 Ltd.

Paul Maynard: The costs paid to WS Atkins on the HS2 project date back to 2009. The department has paid £827,218.15. This principally relates to the passage of the hybrid Bill. HS2 Ltd has paid £85,672,231.94. This principally relates to engineering work on Phase One of the project.

A15: Dual Carriageways

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has received from (a) local highway authorities and (b) other stakeholders on allocating funding to enable the A15 North of Lincoln to be dualled in whole or in part in the last two years.

George Freeman: The Secretary of State for Transport has not received any representations from either local highway authorities or other stakeholders on this matter in the last two years. As part of the Major Road Network (MRN), the A15 north of Lincoln is eligible for consideration for funding from the National Roads Fund. However, no proposed scheme has been submitted for consideration under the programme.

Transport

Tom Brake: What steps his Department has taken to implement Operation Yellowhammer in the transport sector.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Department has worked extensively with our stakeholders across the transport sector to prepare for Brexit. In Kent our work with the Local Resilience Forum has helped deliver Operation Brock, the locally owned and activated plan that will manage traffic disruption in Kent We are conducting a comprehensive multi-channel campaign to improve trader readiness. We produced a Haulier Handbook in conjunction with industry which has been delivered to 82,000 UK hauliers and managers. We have over 100 Brexit information pop-ups live in the UK and 26 at EU sites, including 600 ferry crossings a week.

Railways: North of England

Philip Davies: Whether it is his policy to include services to and from Bradford in Northern Powerhouse Rail.

Paul Maynard: The Prime Minister pledged in July to fund a new route between Leeds and Manchester. The Northern Powerhouse Rail business case contains a range of options for improving connectivity between Leeds and Manchester, including options which would serve Bradford.

Railways: Gloucester

Richard Graham: What steps he is taking to increase rail capacity in Gloucester.

Chris Heaton-Harris: In the new timetable starting on 15 December Great Western Railway increases the frequency of through train services between London Paddington and Gloucester from every two hours to hourly. There will also be earlier first and last trains.The new through trains will be operated by new Intercity Express Trains, providing far more capacity than the shorter local diesel trains they replace.

Taxis

Mr Jim Cunningham: What steps his Department is taking to improve the (a) safety and (b) regulation of taxis.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: My Department will shortly issue statutory guidance to licensing authorities on how they should use their extensive existing powers to protect taxi and private hire vehicle passengers. Next year revised best practice guidance will be issued recommending ways that licensing authorities can use those same powers to enable the trade the thrive and deliver the services passengers demand.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Groceries Code Adjudicator

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many and what proportion of cases heard by the Grocery Code Adjudicator (a) were successfully proven (b) were unsuccessfully proven and (c) dropped before a decision could be made in each years since the establishment of the Adjudicator.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 21 October 2019



The Groceries Code Adjudicator’s (GCA) remit is set out in the Groceries Code Adjudicator Act 2013. The GCA’s statutory functions are to investigate suspected breaches of the Code based on issues raised and information received and to arbitrate, where requested, in disputes between suppliers and designated retailers. Since June 2013 the GCA has concluded two investigations and seven arbitrations. In each investigation the GCA found the relevant designated retailer had breached the Groceries Supply Code of Practice. The outcome of arbitrations is confidential.

Carbon Emissions

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether her Department has received from the Committee on Climate Change an estimate of the costs of achieving net zero carbon emissions in each year from 2020 to 2049.

Kwasi  Kwarteng: The Committee on Climate Change has not provided the Department with an estimate of the costs in each year from 2020 to 2049 for delivering the UK’s net zero target. Costs are inevitably uncertain between 2020 and 2049 but the CCC estimate that the costs of delivering the net zero target will be equivalent to 1-2% of GDP in 2050. We will publish further detail in the impact assessment for the sixth carbon budget and for all policies which we take forward to deliver the net zero target. In addition, HM Treasury are carrying out a review into the costs of transitioning to a net zero economy, as recommended by the CCC. The review will consider how to pay for this and how to achieve the transition in a way that works for households, businesses and public finances, as well as how we can ensure this is compatible with plans for a thriving and competitive economy.

Carbon Emissions

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 in each year between 2020 and 2050.

Kwasi  Kwarteng: The Committee on Climate Change has not provided the Department with an estimate of the costs in each year from 2020 to 2050 for delivering the UK’s net zero target. Costs are inevitably uncertain between 2020 and 2049 but the CCC estimate that the costs of delivering the net zero target will be equivalent to 1-2% of GDP in 2050. We will publish further detail in the impact assessment for the sixth carbon budget and for all policies which we take forward to deliver the net zero target. In addition, HM Treasury are carrying out a review into the costs of transitioning to a net zero economy, as recommended by the CCC. The review will consider how to pay for this and how to achieve the transition in a way that works for households, businesses and public finances, as well as how we can ensure this is compatible with plans for a thriving and competitive economy.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Jainism

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if she will invite representatives of the Jain community to national events organised by her Department; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: Britain’s Jain community makes a positive contribution to life in this country. This Government values its contribution immensely. The Government is always keen to work with the Jain community on matters that are important to them, and we will continue to do so.

Public Holidays

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making (a) Diwali and (b) Eid national public holidays; and if she will make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst: We welcome the celebration of Diwali, Eid, Vaisakhi and other religious festivals. All faiths have a home in this country.The Government regularly receives requests for additional bank and public holidays to commemorate a variety of occasions – such as cultural, history, military and religious events. The current pattern of bank holidays is well established and accepted.There is a significant cost to business of creating additional public holidays. The estimated cost to the economy of the one-off bank holiday for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee was £1.2 billion.The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful for employers to treat staff from a particular religious group less favourably than those from other religions when considering requests for leave, or requests to refrain from work on particular days.

Thomas Cook: Insolvency

Ms Lisa Forbes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions her Department has had with representatives of Hays Travel on re-employment of former staff of Thomas Cook's headquarters.

Kelly Tolhurst: Special Managers acting for the Official Receiver were in discussion with Hays Travel about the completed sale of all former Thomas Cook retail outlets.It is a matter for Hays Travel to decide how many former Thomas Cook staff they will employ and where.The National Taskforce for Thomas Cook will continue to work with Special Managers to ensure the best possible outcome for former Thomas Cook employees.

Energy: Private Rented Housing

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what sanctions her Department has introduced for landlords that do not lift their properties out of (a) G and (b) F energy ratings after receiving funding from the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard.

Kwasi  Kwarteng: The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property)(England and Wales) Regulations 2015 require that, since April 2018, domestic and non-domestic private landlords ensure their properties have an energy efficiency rating of at least an E at the point at which they issue a new tenancy, or renew or extend an existing one. While landlords are free to explore third-party funding options, such as local authority grants, no specific funding is available to help them meet their legal obligations, and landlords are expected to draw on their own funds to finance improvements, subject to a number of cost-effectiveness tests. The regulations set separate cost-effectiveness test for landlords of domestic and non-domestic property. The regulations give enforcement powers to local authorities in respect of the domestic provisions, and to local weights and measures authorities in respect of the non-domestic provisions. Enforcement authorities have a range of penalty options for tacking non-compliance, up to and including the issuing of financial penalties. For domestic property, financial penalties are capped at £5,000 per breach; for non-domestic property, financial penalties are capped at £150,000 per breach.

Energy: Private Rented Housing

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions officials in her Department have had with representatives of (a) building societies, (b) banks and (c) other providers of credit on the provision of finance for landlords seeking to improve the energy performance of their properties up to minimum energy efficiency standard rating E or above.

Kwasi  Kwarteng: Landlords of properties rated EPC F or G are required to organise their own finance to meet the costs bringing their property up to EPC E, subject to cost-effectiveness tests, or filing an exemption if one applies. Therefore, no specific discussions have been held with building societies or banks in relation to these landlord requirements. However, the Green Finance Strategy, published in July this year, recognised the role of the financial sector in delivering our climate, environmental and energy efficiency objectives. The Strategy announced a package of measures to mobilise green finance for home energy efficiency, and officials have been in discussion with a range of finance institutions about these actions.

Energy: Private Rented Housing

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what (a) support her Department provides and (b) regulations apply to landlords to enable them to lift their properties up to a C energy rating.

Kwasi  Kwarteng: The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 require that, since April 2018, domestic and non-domestic private landlords ensure their properties have an energy efficiency rating of at least an E at the point of issuing a new tenancy or renewing or extending an existing one. Landlords are expected to self-fund improvements to bring their property up to standard, subject to cost-effectiveness tests, or file an exemption if one applies. The regulations set separate cost-effectiveness test for landlords of domestic and non-domestic property. Landlords of properties below EPC Band E are free to explore third-party funding options, such as local authority grant funding, Green Deal finance and the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme for low-income, vulnerable and fuel poor households. The Clean Growth Strategy sets out the Government’s intention to look at a long-term trajectory for energy performance standards across the private rented sector. We aim to get as many private rented homes as possible upgraded to EPC Band C by 2030, where practical, cost-effective and affordable. We are currently considering policy options to achieve this and are planning to consult over the winter. On 15 October 2019, the Government published a consultation on a future target of EPC B by 2030 for minimum energy efficiency standards in non-domestic rented buildings.

Solar Power

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Answer of 8 October 2019 to Question 293680 on Solar Power: Statistics, what assessment his Department has made of whether the the Solar photovoltaics deployment report provides (a) adequate and (b) reliable real time data on local generation to enable smart management of local supplies; and what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that Ofgem has the (i) data and (ii) resources necessary to accurately map local generation.

Kwasi  Kwarteng: The Solar photovoltaics deployment report does not currently include unsubsidised solar installations below 1MW capacity that are not registered on the Microgeneration Certification Scheme database, although we are reviewing data sources and working with industry to improve coverage. In addition to this, the Government has recently endorsed the five key recommendations from the Energy Data Taskforce and is working with Ofgem, Innovate UK and industry to implement them. As part of this work we are also considering the way forward to improve the collection and sharing of asset and operational data from various distributed energy resources (which includes solar PVs). The Government has also asked Ofgem to report annually on the Smart Export Guarantee.

Housing: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answers of 30 September 2019 to Questions 290348 and 290347 on Housing: Insulation, if she will make an estimate of the amount of (a) insulation and (b) combustible building materials that have been installed in homes under the (i) Energy Company Obligation, (ii) Carbon Emissions Reduction Target, (iii)  Community Energy Saving Programme and (iv) Green Deal.

Kwasi  Kwarteng: The table below shows the number of insulation measures installed under the listed policies. The Government does not have data about the materials installed though they would only be eligible if they met the relevant Building Regulations at the time. Professional insulation measures installed through selected Government schemes, 2008-2019Thousands Energy Company Obligation  (2013-August 2019)Carbon Emissions Reduction Target  (2008-2012)Community Energy Saving Programme (2009-2012)Green Deal  (2013 - September 2019)Cavity Wall Insulation8972,56930Solid Wall Insulation18559803Loft Insulation*5953,897241Other Insulation28462151Total insulation 1,705  6,987  122  6 * In addition, approximately 113 million m2 of DIY insulation material was provided under the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT).

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Persecution of Christians across the Globe Independent Review

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 7 October 2019 to Question 292977 on Persecution of Christians Across the Globe Independent Review; on what date he plans to hold the Cabinet discussion on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: ​We have drawn up an implementation plan for the Bishop of Truro’s various recommendations, dividing them into short, medium and longer term priorities. We believe that it is better to allow time to prepare properly for a Cabinet level discussion on freedom of religion or belief and are looking to schedule this at an appropriate time; this is not a short term task.

Persecution of Christians across the Globe Independent Review

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 30 September 2019 to Question 291141 on Persecution of Christians Across the Globe Independent Review, what the timescale is for his Department to implement the recommendations of the Bishop of Truro’s Independent Review for the Foreign Secretary of FCO Support for Persecuted Christians.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We have drawn up an implementation plan for the Bishop of Truro’s various recommendations, dividing them into short, medium and longer term priorities. We hope to have implemented, or to be in the course of implementing a good number of them by the end of 2019. Others will take longer, while many will require an ongoing effort to embed into the working practice of the FCO and other Departments. The Bishop of Truro’s Review itself recommends reviewing the implementation of the recommendations after 3 years.

Colombia: Armed Conflict

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made as pen holder of UN Security Council Resolution 2487 of the implications for its policies of Colombia’s Interchurch Commission of Justice and Peace report that (a) non-state armed groups continue to operate freely in Colombia and (b) that operation is a breach of the 2016 peace agreement.

Christopher Pincher: ​We share the concerns of the Interchurch Justice and Peace Commission regarding continuing violence in Colombia. We are aware of reports that armed groups are operating in contravention of the peace agreement, and that the government is taking measures to tackle the problem. We consistently raise these issues with the Colombian Government and in multilateral fora. Most recently, our Permanent Representative to the United Nations raised this issue at the UN Security Council on 11 October.President Duque's Government has publicly committed to implementing the Peace Accords of 2016, and we remain steadfast in our support of the Colombian authorities as they seek to ensure sustainable peace in Colombia. We will continue to work closely with the Colombian government and civil society on the peace process and related matters.

Syria: British Nationals Abroad

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with Kurdish authorities on the evacuation of British children from north east Syria.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Officials have discussed the evacuation and repatriation of British orphans and unaccompanied minors with representatives of the civilian de facto authorities in north east Syria on several occasions, most recently on 21 October. Any repatriation will be subject to national security concerns.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Public Appointments

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which public appointments he is responsible for.

Christopher Pincher: ​The public appointments that the department is responsible for making are set out in the Schedule to the Public Appointments Order in Council 2019. https://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019-Public-Appointments-Order-In-Council.pdf

Ilois: Overseas Aid

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much of the £40 million fund for Chagossians has been allocated to date by his Department; for what purposes that money has been allocated; and how much of that spending has been classified as Official Development Assistance.

Christopher Pincher: Of the £40 million support package for Chagossians, approximately £21.3 million is Official Development Assistance (ODA) for DFID to progress in Mauritius (an ODA-eligible country). The remainder (£18.7 million) is non-ODA for the FCO to progress in the United Kingdom and Seychelles. As of now, the FCO has allocated £3.3 million for an extended and ongoing programme of 'heritage visits' to BIOT and a number of projects in development. Officials are continuing work to develop further projects and activities in line with the areas of support announced by Ministers in 2016: Health, Social Care, Education, Employment, and Culture (awareness and retention).

Syria: Children

John Lamont: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has had discussions with the Kurdish authorities on their ability to deliver repatriated children to the Syrian border.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Officials have discussed the evacuation and repatriation of British orphans and unaccompanied minors with representatives of the civilian de facto authorities in north east Syria on several occasions, most recently on 21 October. Any repatriation will be subject to national security concerns.

Nigeria: Foreign Relations

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the progress that the National Security Council has made in developing the Government’s strategy on Nigeria.

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment the National Security Council has made of the potential merits of consulting (a) state actors and (b) civil society groups on the development of its strategy on Nigeria.

Andrew Stephenson: ​The Government has no plans to make public the detail of National Security Council activity.The Government’s strategy on Nigeria is focused on working with President Buhari’s administration during his second term on our shared goals of prosperity, security, migration and development. We are working together to help Nigeria invest in its people, create more jobs, and address security and stability issues. The former Foreign Secretary met the Nigerian Vice President during his visit in April to discuss long-term solutions to improve livelihoods and opportunity across the country. We routinely work with the Nigerian Government, non-governmental organisations and civil society groups as part of our broader engagement in Nigeria.

Pakistan: Religious Freedom

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made for the implications of his policies of the report of the Pakistani Minorities and Freedom of Religion or Belief APPG entitled, Religious Minorities of Pakistan: Report of a Parliamentary Visit, published on 9 September 2019.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We remain concerned about continuing reports of discrimination against religious minorities in Pakistan. The Government strongly condemns the persecution of all minorities, including the targeting of innocent people based on their beliefs. We regularly raise our concerns about the use of the blasphemy laws with the Pakistani Government at a senior level. The British Government continues to urge Pakistan to honour its human rights obligations, including those related to religious minorities, and to uphold the rule of law.​

Pakistan: Religious Freedom

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his counterpart in the Pakistan Government to encourage the invitation of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief to visit Pakistan.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We regularly discuss freedom of religion or belief with the Pakistani Government and will continue to raise this matter at a senior level. The previous Foreign Secretary discussed the treatment of minority religious communities with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Qureshi during his visit to the UK in June 2019. In September, the Prime Minister appointed Rehman Chishti MP as the new Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief to build on the work of the former Envoy Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and further the government’s work promoting the UK’s firm stance on religious freedom and tolerance abroad.

Pakistan: Capital Punishment

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to work with his Pakistani counterpart to ensure that child offenders are not executed in Pakistan.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: It is our longstanding policy to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. The UK has raised its concerns at the highest level of the Government of Pakistan about specific cases and continues to urge Pakistan to ensure due process and adherence to international obligations.The UK is supportive of the Juvenile Justice System Act passed in Pakistan in 2018, which prohibits executions of juveniles and makes provisions regarding separate courts for juvenile offenders. The Chief Justice of Pakistan has committed to establish a child court in every district. The UK is directly supporting the establishment of the first courts and training for the judiciary and lawyers. This will help reduce the risk of child offenders, whose age can be determined, receiving the death penalty in Pakistan.

Pakistan: Detainees

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his counterpart in the Pakistani Government on ensuring that child and adult detainees are not held together in prisons in Pakistan.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We remain concerned about the human rights situation in Pakistan, including the human rights situation for children. The British Government regularly raises its concerns about human rights at the highest levels with of the Government of Pakistan. The UK is supportive of the ongoing implementation of the Juvenile Justice System Act, which mandates separate provisions for juvenile and adult offenders.​

Pakistan: Human Rights

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will appoint a specialist officer to work on (a) forced marriage, (b) forced conversion and (c) other issues relevant to marginalised at the British High Commission in Pakistan.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The work of our High Commission in Pakistan is underpinned by support for human rights and the marginalised. There is a specialist officer who leads on human rights issues.We regularly raise our concerns about the protection of minority communities, including religious minorities, with the Pakistani Government at a senior level. The previous Foreign Secretary discussed the treatment of minority religious communities with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Qureshi during his visit to the UK in June.

Pakistan: Religious Freedom

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy for all Government staff working (a) on or (b) in Pakistan undergo (i) religious and (ii) freedom of religious belief literacy training.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We are exploring how best to expand our existing training package on religion and diplomacy to have the greatest reach and impact across the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) global network, including in Pakistan. We have also piloted a new workshop on the use of the FCO Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) Toolkit. The Bishop of Truro’s Independent Review of FCO Support for Persecuted Christians recommended that general and contextual training in religious literacy and belief dynamics, including the FCO FoRB toolkit, is undertaken in all roles where this understanding is important. It also recommended rolling out mandatory religious diversity and literacy e-training to all FCO staff, subject to cost and value for money considerations. We have agreed to implement these recommendations.​

Germany: British Nationals Abroad

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with her German counterpart on the effect on a UK citizen marrying a German national who may move from the UK to Germany in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Christopher Pincher: ​The British Government is in close touch with the German Government regarding their respective immigration arrangements, including provisions for future mobility in a No Deal scenario. The German Parliament is also currently considering a Brexit Residence Transition Law which would come into effect in a No Deal scenario to ensure that all British Nationals and their family members who exercised freedom of movement rights before exit day receive a residence permit. British Nationals moving to Germany after exit day in the event of No Deal would need to follow German immigration guidelines.

Syria: Military Intervention

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to investigate allegations of Turkish backed armed forces committing war crimes against the Kurdish population in Syria and the surrounding regions.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Turkish counterpart on reports of war crimes committed by Turkish backed armed forces against the Kurdish community in Syria; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Andrew Murrison: ​We are seriously concerned about reports of violations of international humanitarian law during the military offensive by Turkish forces and their Syrian allies. We expect all parties to respect their obligations towards civilians under international humanitarian law. The Foreign Secretary conveyed this message to his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, on 10 October and the Prime Minister made this clear to President Erdogan on 20 October.

France: Foreign Relations

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Prime Minister's oral contribution when Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of 20 February 2018, Official Report, column 5, what progress has been made on establishing a comité des sages to reviving UK-France collaboration in the areas of (a) security, (b) defence, (c) space, (d) genomics and (e) infrastructure.

Christopher Pincher: ​Our regular bilateral summits form a core part of our strong relationship with France. The 2018 Sandhurst Summit was very successful and our collaboration with France on all the areas mentioned - and a lot more - remains as active as ever. We continue to work with France on implementation of the outcomes from the 2018 Summit, including how we can take forward the concept of a comité des sages. As we prepare for the next summit, we are reviewing the structures required to develop further our close partnership with France.

Colombia: Homicide

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of reports by the National Indigenous Association of Colombia that 97 indigenous leaders were murdered between August 2018 and August 2019; and if he will make a statement.

Christopher Pincher: ​We are aware of reports that organised armed groups operate in large parts of Colombia, fighting for control over illegal economies. We share the concerns of the National Indigenous Association of Colombia about the effect this is having on indigenous communities.We remain steadfast in our support of the Colombian authorities as they seek to ensure sustainable peace in Colombia, and will continue to work closely with the Colombian Government and civil society on the peace process and related matters.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Living Wage

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff of his Department are paid less than the London Living Wage; and what requirements his Department places on contractors to pay the London Living Wage to London-based staff.

Christopher Pincher: ​No Foreign & Commonwealth Office staff working within Inner or Greater London receive less than the London Living Wage.We do not require companies contracted to the Department to pay Living Wage Foundation's living wage to the staff that they employ. Specific rates of pay are a matter for each individual contractor, as the employer, but assurances are provided to ensure full compliance with the requirements of the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage.

Anne Sacoolas

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether Anne Sacoolas was protected by diplomatic immunity (a) in her own right and (b) as a dependent of her husband (i) since she first arrived in the UK and (ii) on the 27 August 2019.

Dominic Raab: As I explained to the House on 21 October, at the time of the accident, the American involved had diplomatic immunity as a result of the notification of her husband as a member of the administrative and technical staff of the US Embassy based at the Croughton annex.As I also explained to the House, the UK Government was notified of the family's arrival in the UK in July 2019. The individual involved held immunity from the point of her arrival.

Anne Sacoolas

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will publish (a) correspondence and (b) records of (i) meetings and (ii) phone calls between his Department and Northamptonshire Police between 27 August and 15 October 2019.

Dominic Raab: I set out the Foreign Office's handling of the Harry Dunn case in my statement of 21 October. We have received a number of requests to release information on this case and are considering how to respond to these requests in accordance with the principles under the Freedom of Information Act.

Anne Sacoolas

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he was notified of Anne Sacoolas’ departure from the UK in advance of her leaving the country.

Dominic Raab: I was notified of the individual's departure the day after she had left the country.

Anne Sacoolas

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether officials from his Department (a) met with Anne Sacoolas and (b) communicated with Anne Sacoolas by (i) letter, (ii) email, (iii) telephone and (iv) text message between the 27 August 2019 and when Anne Sacoolas left the country.

Dominic Raab: No. My officials have not met or corresponded with the individual concerned.

Anne Sacoolas

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when his Department was notified that Anne Sacoolas was intending to leave the UK; and when his Department passed on that information to Northamptonshire Police.

Dominic Raab: As I explained to the House on 21 October, the US Embassy told the FCO on 13 September that the individual concerned would be leaving the country imminently unless the UK had strong objections. We duly and immediately objected in clear terms and have done so ever since. When the FCO followed up with the US Embassy on 16 September, they informed the FCO that the individual had left the UK the previous day. The FCO informed Northamptonshire Police the same day.

Anne Sacoolas

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on what date his Department was informed by Northamptonshire Police of the alledged involvement of Anne Sacoolas in the death of Harry Dunn.

Dominic Raab: The US Embassy told the FCO about the accident on 28 August.

Anne Sacoolas

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will publish guidance his Department issued to Northamptonshire Police on the treatment of Anne Sacoolas after the death of Harry Dunn.

Dominic Raab: The FCO did not issue formal guidance on the treatment of the individual concerned to Northamptonshire Police. However, the FCO did inform the police of her immunity status. As I explained to the House on 21 October, throughout we have liaised with the police to clear away obstacles to justice being done, and we will continue to do all we can to support the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

Anne Sacoolas

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he had with his counterpart in the US Administration on death of Harry Dunn in the three weeks after 27 August 2019.

Dominic Raab: As I explained to the House on 21 October, I raised this case twice with the US Ambassador in order to express my disappointment with the decision not to waive immunity, and to request that the decision be reversed. I spoke to the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the same terms on 7 October and the Prime Minister raised the case with President Trump on 9 October.

Armed Conflict: Children

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to protect children living in conflict zones.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: ​I refer the Hon Gentleman to the Answer I gave to PQ 554 from the Member for Woking on 22nd October.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Private Education

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the cost to the public purse was of continuity of education allowances for placements at (a) Fettes (b) Gordonstoun (c) Marlborough (d) King's Canterbury (e) Cheltenham (f) Tonbridge (g) Stowe (h) Benenden (i) Ampleforth and (j) Clifton private schools and colleges in 2018-19; how many there were at each school and college in that year; and what the (i) civil service grade and (ii) diplomatic service title was of each claimant.

Christopher Pincher: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Private Education

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many diplomatic staff claimed Continuity of Education Allowance in 2018-19 for UK-based private school fees; how many of the claimants were at each pay grade; and what contribution his Department asked claimants to make towards those fees.

Christopher Pincher: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Syria: Military Intervention

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Turkish counterpart on reports of the use of white phosphorus by that country on Kurdish civilians; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Andrew Murrison: ​The allegations that white phosphorus has been used against civilians are extremely worrying and it is important that the full facts are established. We have called on all parties to uphold international humanitarian law (IHL); IHL prohibits attacks against civilians irrespective of the weapon used. We continue to monitor the situation.

Syria: Military Intervention

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Turkish counterpart on reports of that country's use of Jihadi proxies in the capture of Kurdish towns in northern Syria; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Andrew Murrison: ​We are seriously concerned about reported violations of international humanitarian law, including summary executions, by Turkish-supported Syrian armed groups during Turkey's military operation in north-east Syria. We have been clear, including to Turkey, that we expect all parties to respect their obligations towards civilians under international humanitarian law. The Prime Minister made this clear to President Erdogan on 20 October, and both the Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary have conveyed this message to their Turkish counterparts.

Cabinet Office

Census: Sikhs

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 1 October 2019 to Question 291409 on Census: Sikhs, what estimate he has made of the number of people among the 20 million that answered no religion or did not answer the optional religious question in the 2011 census who belong to the Sikh ethnic group.

Kevin Foster: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 88.63 KB)

Cervical Cancer: Death

Christian Matheson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many women under the age of 25 died from cervical cancer in (a) 2016, (b) 2017, (c) 2018 and (d) 2019.

Kevin Foster: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 61.31 KB)

Cabinet Office: Public Appointments

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, which public appointments he is responsible for.

Simon Hart: The public appointments that the department is responsible for making are set out in the Schedule to the Public Appointments Order in Council 2019. https://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019-Public-Appointments-Order-In-Council.pdf

Employment: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people were in employment in Romford constituency in each year since 2000.

Kevin Foster: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 68.59 KB)

European Parliament and Local Government: Elections

Catherine West: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the conclusions of the report entitled, May 2019 European Parliamentary elections and local elections, published by the Electoral Commission in October 2018.

Kevin Foster: The Government will carefully consider the Electoral Commission's report and respond in due course.

Cabinet Office: Living Wage

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether all staff of the Prime Minister's Office are paid the London Living Wage; and whether it is a requirement for all Government Departments' contractors to pay the London Living Wage to London-based staff.

Simon Hart: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to his question (PQ 293677) on 7 October 2019.

10 Downing Street: Catering and Cleaning Services

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what arrangements the Government has with contractors for (a) cleaning and (b) catering in 10 Downing Street.

Simon Hart: Cleaners in No 10 are Civil Servants and are not contractors. The catering services are provided via the Government Property Agency's Total Facilities Management Contract.

Cabinet Office: Living Wage

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of the number of civil servants employed directly or indirectly by each London-based Government Department or agency that are paid below the London Living Wage.

Simon Hart: This government is committed to paying people a decent living wage, which is being addressed through the statutory National Living Wage. In April 2019, the National Living Wage increased to £8.21 per hour, handing a full-time worker a further £690 annual pay rise. By 2024 the National Living Wage will rise to £10.50 per hour, reaching 66% of median UK earnings. The scope will be expanded to everyone aged 21 and over and is expected to benefit over 4 million low paid workers.Pay for grades below the Senior Civil Service is delegated to departments to determine and they will of course comply with the statutory National Living Wage. As at 31 March 2019, almost 46,000 (~11%) of civil servants earn below the Living Wage Foundation’s living wage (for those based outside of London) or London living wage (for those based inside London). It is not possible to provide a detailed breakdown by department and these estimates may differ from those calculated by departments using their internal data.

Cabinet Office: Health

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2019 to Question 904, what the campaigns and initiatives referred to in the Answer were; and how many staff took part in each of them.

Simon Hart: As referenced in the Answer of 21 October 2019 to Question 904, Cabinet Office has run a number of campaigns and initiatives in the past year to improve the personal wellbeing of staff relating to physical, mental and social wellbeing. The department receives consistently strong engagement rates in activities relating to these campaign events. Whilst we cannot give exact numbers, we estimate that around 2000 members of staff taking part in events and initiatives in the first ten months of 2019, either physically or remotely through the use of video technology.A breakdown of events can be seen below:MonthType of initiativeStaff EngagementJanuaryWellbeing Month - we organised 29 events and training sessions throughout the month, including resilience workshops, park runs, mindfulness sessions and a visit by ‘wellbeing dogs’Over 400 people attended workshops, 30 colleagues joined sessions remotely (via google hangout), and hundreds of colleagues visited the wellbeing dogs.FebruaryTime to Talk Day eventsCirca 50 attended eventsMayMental Health Awareness Week – 5 talks organised and ‘This is me’ campaign where Cabinet Office staff shared their own personal stories with mental healthRaised £219 by selling green ribbons to staff Circa 500 members of staff took part in this campaign either through buying a ribbon or attending one of the talksJuneCivil Service Active Wellbeing Week, led by Civil Service Sports Council. To support the week, colleagues across Cabinet Office volunteered their own time to run a series of events, such as bike rides, pilates sessions and wellbeing walks.As these were organised by volunteers, we do not have an estimated number of staff who attended these events, however they were very popular amongst colleagues.SeptemberNational Suicide Prevention Day – guest speakerCirca 50 members of staff attended the talk on the day, and a further 150 watched the talk remotely through the use of video technology.SeptemberKnow Your Numbers Week. A national campaign led by Blood Pressure UK to encourage staff to know their vital health statistics, such as blood pressure, heart rate, hydration and body mass index. As part of this event, we arranged for health check kiosks to be made available for staff in our London and Newcastle officesA total of 683 people using these kiosks. In addition, 30 people took part in the smoothie bike challenge which formed part of the eventOctoberCabinet Office encouraged staff to stop smoking for 28 days as part of the Stoptober campaign. We promoted this campaign via the intranet and set up stalls manned by specialist stop smoking advisorsCirca 30 people visited stallsOctoberWorld Mental Health Day. This included a tea & talk session, a panel discussion and a mental wellbeing workshop.Around 300 people took part in these events, with a further 200 people buying green ribbons to support the day

Offshore Funds

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the rules that govern the use of offshore bank accounts by (a) Government Ministers, (b) Senior Civil Servants and (c) Directors of Government-controlled companies.

Kevin Foster: All public office holders are expected to comply with the law as it applies to offshore banking activity.Ministers and Civil Servants must also uphold the standards of conduct as set out in the Ministerial and Civil Service Code respectively, as well as the seven principles of public life.

Electronic Government: Proof of Identity

Jo Platt: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2019 to Question 359 on Electronic Government: Proof of Identity, for what reason the Answer did not publish the 46 Government services which were originally intended to be accessible through GOV.UK Verify by March 2018.

Simon Hart: As per PQ 359 not all the services originally considering using GOV.UK Verify completed their digital transformation, or had well-evidenced need for digital identity. It is therefore not appropriate to publish these services, a number of which are no longer in existence. The current government services available through GOV.UK Verify are available on GOV.UK.

Department of Health and Social Care

Medicine: Research

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions officials in her Department have had with patient groups on the right of referral to research that NHS England committed to in The Implementation Framework: support offer published in June 2019.

Caroline Dinenage: The right for patients to be referred to research was announced in the NHS Long Term Plan, the concept was developed during discussions with a range of stakeholders including charities. NHS England and NHS Improvement is at an early stage in developing the detailed proposal and patient and public involvement will be an integral part of this process.

NHS: Drugs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to ensure the adequacy of the provision of essential medicines in the event that the UK leaves the EU on 31 October 20109.

Edward Argar: The Department is doing everything appropriate to prepare for leaving the European Union. We want to reassure patients that our plans should ensure the uninterrupted supply of medicines and medical products, once we have left the EU.The Department, as part of our EU exit preparations, is implementing a multi-layered approach to mitigate potential disruption to supply, which consists of stockpiling where possible, securing freight capacity, changing or clarifying regulatory requirements, procuring additional warehousing, working closely with industry to improve trader readiness and putting in place the National Supply Disruption Response to manage potential shortages. Further details can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/medicines-and-medical-products-supply-government-updates-no-deal-brexit-plans

Hip Replacements

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the new minimally invasive hip replacement operation will be available on the NHS.

Jo Churchill: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has confirmed that minimally invasive hip replacement can be offered routinely as a treatment option for people with severe hip pain provided that doctors are sure that the patient understands what is involved and agrees to the treatment, and the results of the procedure are monitored. Their full guidance is here:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ipg363/resources/minimally-invasive-total-hip-replacement-pdf-315958285It is for local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to decide what services they commission for the people they are responsible for – this will mean making clinical judgements about the effectiveness and value of treatments, and the best allocation of resources. CCGs do this based on the healthcare needs of their local populations and clinical evidence, to ensure they are providing the best possible, more sustainable care for their patients. Treatment decisions should always be made by doctors based on a patient’s individual clinical needs and informed by the NICE guidelines.

Visual Impairment: Stem Cells

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of stem cell therapy treatment to restore sight.

Caroline Dinenage: The assessment about the potential merits of stem cell therapy is undertaken by The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and NHS England commissions care in line with the NICE guidance.NICE issued guidance in 2017 on the use of Holoclar for treating corneal injury due to limbal stem cell deficiency after burns which can be found at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta467The National Institute of Health Research is currently supporting four clinical trials investigating the use of stem cells at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Health Professions: Recruitment

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of specialist prostate care (a) nurses and (b) doctors in the NHS.

Edward Argar: Urology is the branch of medicine that includes surgical and medical diseases of the prostate. Since 2010, the number of full-time equivalent doctors working in urology has increased by 26%, rising from 1,602 in June 2010 to 2,024 in June 2019. The Nursing and Midwifery Council do not require a specific post-registration education programme to be undertaken for a Registered Nurse to become a specialist prostate nurse. Individual organisations develop registered nurses into this role locally, with support from Local Workforce Action Boards and are responsible for creating the number of specialist prostate nurse posts they require, based on population need.The interim NHS People Plan puts the workforce at the heart of the National Health Service and will ensure we have the staff needed to deliver high quality care. In advance of publishing the final People Plan, the NHS will establish a national programme board to address geographical and specialty shortages in medicine.  Decisions about the NHS workforce in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are a matter for the devolved administrations of those countries.

Psoriasis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people with psoriasis.

Caroline Dinenage: No estimate has been made. However, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence states that the prevalence of psoriasis have been estimated around 1.3 – 2.2% in the United Kingdom.

Autism: Health Services

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will issue guidance on the duties of (a) statutory health providers and (b) local authorities in meeting the care needs of adults with autism.

Caroline Dinenage: The Autism Act 2009 places a duty on the Secretary ofState for Health and Social Care to publish a strategy for meeting the needs ofautistic adults in England, and to review it periodically.   In April 2014, the cross-Government adult autism strategy,‘Think Autism’, was published. Statutory guidance for local authorities and NationalHealth Service organisations was published in March 2015 to support the adultautism strategy’s implementation.   We are currently reviewing the cross-Government autismstrategy and extending it to include children and young people. The Governmentexpects to publish the revised all age autism strategy by the end of thecalendar year.

Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients: Prisoners' Release

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) women and (b) men have been sectioned under the Mental Health Act 1983 within 24 hours of their release from prison in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Ms Nadine Dorries: This information is not collected centrally.

Hearing Impairment: Children

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that every deaf child has access to an education, health and care plan.

Caroline Dinenage: Local authorities are statutorily responsible for assessing whether children and young people have special educational needs which require an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. An EHC needs assessment is triggered by a child or young person’s special educational needs, rather than a health or social care need.There were 354,000 children and young people with EHC plans maintained by local authorities as at January 2019. This is an increase of 34,200 (11%) from 2018.Parents (or the young person) can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal for Special Educational Needs and Disability if they are not happy with a local authority’s decisions relating to an EHC plan.

Cystic Fibrosis: Research

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the progress made in research and response to cystic fibrosis in the last five years.

Caroline Dinenage: No assessment has been made. The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes research funding applications into any aspect of human health, including cystic fibrosis. Over the last five years, the NIHR has provided £8 million to fund 27 research studies into various aspects of cystic fibrosis and has provided just over £1 million to the Cochrane Cystic Fibrosis and Genetic Disorders Group to carry out systematic reviews in this area. The NIHR has also supported 124 studies and trials on cystic fibrosis via the NIHR Biomedical Research Centres, Units and other research infrastructure, and a further 125 studies in this area through the NIHR Clinical Research Network.

Cystic Fibrosis: Drugs

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of reimbursement arrangements for Vertex Pharmaceuticals products for cystic fibrosis in (a) Australia, (b) Germany, and (c) Scotland.

Jo Churchill: The reimbursement arrangements in place for medicines in Scotland is a matter for the devolved administration. Assessments of the effectiveness of the arrangements for individual medicines in non-United Kingdom countries are not always straightforward as they have different population needs, health systems, and processes. Reimbursement arrangements are also often subject to commercial agreements that may be confidential.

Hearing Aids: Children

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of deaf children have access to radio aids to help them communicate in their early years.

Caroline Dinenage: This information is not held centrally.The Government recognises that early access to language support is essential to help children to learn and to thrive. It is vital that parents and carers who care for deaf and hearing impaired children and young people are supported to communicate with them.In 2018 we announced new contracts worth more than £25 million to help provide children with special educational needs and disability – including those who are deaf or have a hearing impairment – access to excellent support.

Hearing Impairment: Children

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether audiology Departments are required to collect data on the number of children identified as having hearing loss.

Caroline Dinenage: All paediatric audiology services are required to record paediatric screening, assessment data, diagnosis and treatment data onto the national online database called ‘Smart for hearing’. This is co-ordinated centrally by the Newborn Hearing Screening team in the National Screening Office at Public Health England.

Genetics: Screening

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the security of personal data created by genomic sequencing.

Caroline Dinenage: The National Health Service is working with Genomics England to ensure the security of personal data created by genomic sequencing through the new pipeline for Whole Genome Sequencing in the NHS. Genomics England has adopted a multi-layered approach to delivering cyber security and data protection for data generated from sequencing. The approach ensures that Genomics England data capture systems remain secure and are appropriately protected from external threats. Genomics England has engaged with the Department, NHS Digital and the National Cyber Security Centre to review the Genomics England Security Strategy and Policy and is working towards formal Cyber Security Accreditation during 2020. In April 2018, the Department launched the Data Security and Protection Toolkit. This covers the key data security and data protection requirements for health and social care organisations. Organisations can self-assess against it to demonstrate that they are meeting information governance requirements.

Blood: Contamination

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons parents and children of people who have died after being infected by contaminated blood products do not receive on-going financial support.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The England Infected Blood Support Scheme (EIBSS) currently makes provision for ex gratia one-off payments to eligible spouses, civil partners and long-term partners for individuals meeting qualifying criteria. The EIBSS also makes provision to help with the costs of bringing up children of an infected beneficiary in the form of an income top-up payment. This is a discretionary monthly payment to increase household income to help with general living costs. These are means-tested payments for dependants who are defined as children of an infected beneficiary up to the age of 18 years, or up to 21 if in full-time education. In July 2017 the then Prime Minister announced the establishment of the Infected Blood Enquiry. This statutory inquiry chaired by Sir Brian Langstaff, will examine why men, women and children in the United Kingdom were given infected blood and/or infected blood products and the impact on their families. The Inquiry will consider the nature and the adequacy of the treatment, care and support (including financial assistance) and the Government will carefully consider any recommendations made.

Health Services: British Nationals Abroad

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to maintain free health care provision for British citizens living in the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

Edward Argar: The Government is committed to securing a deal with the European Union and is working in an energetic and determined way to achieve this.The United Kingdom Government has proposed to all Member States that we should maintain existing reciprocal healthcare arrangements, including the S1 scheme, until 31 December 2020 if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. These arrangements would safeguard healthcare for the hundreds of thousands of UK-insured persons who live in Europe.I laid a Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS1832) on 26 September 2019, setting out the Department’s progress on ‘no deal’ reciprocal healthcare arrangements, and updated information has been published on GOV.UK and NHS.UK on the situation for each Member State, including what arrangements have been put in place. These pages will be kept updated as further assurances from Member States are received.

Surgery: East Riding

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on patient outcomes of the decision of East Riding of Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group to delay access to elective surgical procedures for patients with a body mass index greater than 30.

Edward Argar: The Department has not assessed the effect on patient outcomes following the introduction of East Riding of Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to introduce its ‘Get Fit for your Operation’ programme in 2017 to support patients to live healthier lifestyles.Treatment decisions should always be made by doctors based on patients’ clinical needs. CCGs have a statutory responsibility to commission services which meet the needs of their local population - the vast majority of treatments and services that patients need are offered routinely by the National Health Service. Where this is not the case, a clinician can make an individual funding request if they believe their patient’s circumstances are clinically exceptional. If there is evidence of rationing care, we expect NHS England to ensure the CCG is not breaching its statutory responsibility to provide services that meet the needs of the local population.

Department of Health and Social Care: Public Appointments

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which public appointments he is responsible for.

Caroline Dinenage: The public appointments that the Department is responsible for making are set out in the Schedule to the Public Appointments Order in Council 2019 at the following link: https://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019-Public-Appointments-Order-In-Council.pdf

Barts Health NHS Trust: Legal Costs

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much Barts NHS Foundation Trust spent on legal fees in relation to the case of Tafida Raqeeb v Barts NHS Foundation Trust and others in the High Court.

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the High Court judgment of 3 October 2019 on Tafida Raqeeb v Barts NHS Foundation Trust and others, if his Department will undertake a review of the guidance issued to NHS Trusts on taking legal action in the best interests of patients.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department does not issue guidance on legal action in best interests cases. Decisions around withdrawal of treatment in such difficult circumstances are never easy. It is important that families and medical experts communicate and, where possible, reach agreement on the best interest of the child. Medical ethics committees and mediation services are often involved in such cases, but each case will be different and must be considered on its own unique circumstances by those who are involved – the National Health Services trust, clinicians and parents/patients. Health care professionals have a duty to act in the best interests of their patients and when doctors and families do not agree about the best interests of a child the Courts can been asked, by either party, to make an independent judgement, as in the case of Tafida Raqeeb.The Department does not collect information on the cost of best interest cases.

Abortion: Northern Ireland

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance the Central Booking Service issued to women in Northern Ireland between the 22 October 2019 and 31 March 2020.

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support the Central Booking Service plan to provide to women in Northern Ireland that are considering an abortion between 22 October 2019 and 31 March 2020.

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what counselling can be arranged for women from Northern Ireland by the Central Booking Service between 22 October 2019 and 31 March 2020.

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government has taken to ensure that the Central Booking Service will provide impartial advice to women from Northern Ireland between 22 October 2019 and 31 March 2020.

Caroline Dinenage: The United Kingdom Government funded Central Booking System (CBS) has been in operation since March 2018 as a single point of contact for women in Northern Ireland to access abortion care in England. As part of the grant agreement in place with the British Pregnancy Advisory Service the service is delivered to an agreed service specification. The package of care offered to all women includes:- a consultation including impartial information/advice, and where needed, counselling with an abortion provider in England. This process will include an assessment of whether the legal grounds for an abortion in England are met;- an abortion procedure;- HIV and sexually transmitted infection tests; and- choice of contraception from the abortion providerThe CBS, and abortion care provided under the scheme, will continue to offer the same service and care package to women from Northern Ireland to access in England between 22 October 2019 and 31 March 2020, as has been in place since March 2018. The only change is that all travel and, where needed, accommodation is now paid for, without any means testing.

Abortion: Northern Ireland

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether women from Northern Ireland considering an abortion are able to receive a similar level of counselling as women in England and Wales between 22 October 2019 and March 2020.

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there is a difference in the (a) guidance, (b) support, and (c) counselling made available to women in (i) Northern Ireland and (ii) England and Wales.

Caroline Dinenage: The Northern Ireland Executive was not restored by 21 October 2019, so section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act has now come into force, providing for the decriminalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland in relation to sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. The United Kingdom Government is now under a duty to bring forward regulations to introduce a new legal framework for abortion in Northern Ireland by 31 March 2020, and has published guidance for healthcare professionals in Northern Ireland on abortion law for the period 22 October 2019 to 31 March 2020 at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-law-in-northern-irelandThis makes clear that abortion services are not expected to be routinely available in Northern Ireland before 31 March 2020.The UK Government-funded Central Booking System (CBS) has been in operation since March 2018 as a single point of contact for women in Northern Ireland to access abortion care in England. The CBS, and abortion care provided under the scheme, will continue to offer the same service and care package to women from Northern Ireland between 22 October 2019 and 31 March 2020. During this period women from Northern Ireland will be able to have all travel and, where needed, accommodation paid for without any means testing.The package of care offered to women from Northern Ireland is equivalent to the package of care offered to women from England and includes:- a consultation including impartial information/advice, and where needed, counselling with an abortion provider in England. This process will include an assessment of whether the legal grounds for an abortion in England are met;- an abortion procedure;- HIV and sexually transmitted infection tests; and- choice of contraception from the abortion provider.

Abortion: Northern Ireland

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that abortion guidelines issued by professional bodies in Northern Ireland will be the same as guidelines issued by professional bodies in England and Wales between 22 October 2019 and 31 March 2020.

Caroline Dinenage: Guidance issued by professional bodies is a matter for each individual organisation. The Government has published its own guidance for healthcare professionals in Northern Ireland on abortion law in the period 22 October 2019 to 31 March 2020, which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-law-in-northern-ireland

HIV Infection: Males

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many men have contracted HIV while waiting to be placed on the PrEP impact trial.

Jo Churchill: This information is not collected centrally.

Autism and Learning Disability: Children

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 7 October 2019 to Question 293513, on Children in Care, how many and what proportion of children with (a) a learning disability and (b) autism were inpatients in 2015.

Caroline Dinenage: The information is not available in the format requested.

Mental Health Services: Standards

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has to review the adequacy of mental health services provided by (a) local authorities and (b) mental health trusts; and if he will make a statement.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The NHS Long Term Plan sets out how we will reform services over the next ten years, including mental health services. The NHS Long Term Plan Implementation Framework requires sustainability and transformation partnership (STP) areas and integrated care systems to develop five-year plans (‘system plans’) this year, setting out how they will deliver the Long Term Plan commitments up to 2023/24. NHS England and NHS Improvement regions will play the primary role in supporting systems with the development of their five-year plans. These regions, working with national colleagues, will assure the robustness of local plans against the Long Term Plan’s mental health ambitions.

Cystic Fibrosis: Drugs

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of waiving tax on generic versions of lifesaving cystic fibrosis drugs entering the UK from Argentina on the (a) quality of life and (b) wellbeing of people with cystic fibrosis.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Northwick Park Hospital: Accident and Emergency Departments

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were seen in Northwick Park's accident and emergency unit in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Argar: This data is not collected in the format requested.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will list in numerical order what the top ten accident and emergency departments were by number of patients seen in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Argar: This information is not collected in the format requested.

Northwick Park Hospital: Hospital Beds

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of critical care and intensive treatment beds at Northwick Park hospital; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Argar: Northwick Park hospital has a total of 31 critical care beds. Beds are constantly flexed according to clinical need.

HIV Infection

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 26 July 2019 to Question 280282, on HIV infection, if he will place in the Library the number of finished consultant episodes that related to (a) primary and (b) secondary diagnoses of HIV infection in (i) England and (ii) each English region in each year since 1989; and if he will provide the information in the format used in the Answer of 19 March 2015 to Question 227661.

Jo Churchill: The number of finished consultant episodes relating to HIV diagnoses provided by NHS Digital are available in the attached table.This includes data from 1998/99 for England and regional data from 2003/04. 



PQ2778 Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 32.85 KB)

Northwick Park Hospital: Repairs and Maintenance

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the level of the backlog of maintenance work at Northwick Park hospital; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Argar: The Department collects data on backlog maintenance annually from National Health Service trusts through its Estates Returns Information Collection. The accuracy of the data is the responsibility of the contributing NHS organisations. The total backlog maintenance for Northwick Park Hospital for 2018-19 was £141 million. Improving the quality and safety of the NHS estate is a key part of the NHS Long Term Plan. Reduction and elimination of backlog maintenance is an element of this, combined with simultaneously making the estate better through reconfiguration. These steps will enable NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts, not primary or social care, to maintain their services and ensure they can provide patients with high quality care, both now and in future.

Cancer: Screening

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time was for cancer test results in each hospital trust in England in (a) 2009-10 and (b) each subsequent year.

Jo Churchill: This information is not available in the format requested.

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government's revised mandate to NHS England for 2017-18, what progress NHS England has made on meeting (a) A&E and (b) referral-to-treatment waiting time targets.

Edward Argar: In the past six months there have been half a million more visits to accident and emergency (A&E) than at the same point last year, following the busiest-ever summer in emergency departments. Despite this continued pressure and as local services step up plans for winter, National Health Service staff last month treated 41,000 more people in A&Es within four hours compared with September last year, while thousands more got treated without the need for an overnight stay in hospital.As well as an increase in people getting care in A&Es and through NHS 111, an extra 2,000 people started planned treatment every day compared to last year. In addition, the number of patients waiting the longest (over 52 weeks) to start treatment has reduced from almost 18,500 in 2010 to fewer than 1,250 in August 2019.We're providing an extra £33.9 billion a year by 2023/24 through the NHS Long Term Plan to improve and transform urgent and emergency care services and grow the amount of planned surgery year on year to reduce the waiting list.

Health Services

Jane Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent impact assessment his Department has conducted on the potential effect of the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the Atomic Energy Community published on 19 October 2019 on the health sector.

Edward Argar: The Department is working closely with partners across the health and care system and industry which should ensure the United Kingdom is as prepared as possible to leave the European Union. These preparations mean the health and care system is in a strong position to mitigate potential problems as far as possible and respond to any challenges caused by EU Exit.The Government has been clear that the UK’s ability to import medical radioisotopes will not be affected by our withdrawal from the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), as Euratom places no restriction on the export of medical radioisotopes from the EU to countries outside the EU, nor do they fall under nuclear safeguards regimes.

Tobacco: Packaging

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that companies producing and selling tobacco products do not circumvent the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015 through changes to packaging design.

Jo Churchill: Tobacco regulations in England are enforced by local authorities through Trading Standards, this includes the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015. The Department keeps track of enforcement and compliance through these regulations.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many women born in (a) 1965, (b) 1966, (c) 1967, (d) 1968 and (e) 1969 have (i) been invited for breast cancer screening and (ii) taken up an offer of breast cancer screening.

Jo Churchill: In the Breast Screening Programme women are eligible to be screened from the age of 50 and are invited every three years. Data in the format requested is not available. The data below shows the number invited, uptake and coverage for the age bands 50-52 and 53-54 in 2017-2018. The figures below are obtained from the 2017-18 Breast Screening Annual Report which can be viewed at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/breast-screening-programme/england-2017-18 Number invited (for ages 50-54) in 2017-18. It should be noted that, women are invited every three years, so the number of invites in 2017-18 only represents approximately 1/3 of women in the 50-54 age band. Invite here refers to ‘first and all routine invitations’ – see report for detailed definitions. Age BandIndicatorUnitValue50-52InvitedNumber435,67853-54InvitedNumber290,93650-54InvitedNumber726,614 Invites and uptake of those invites for women age 50-54, in England in 2017-18. (This is not the total number of women in the 50-54 age group, just the number invited in 2017-18). Age BandIndicatorUnitValue50-52InvitedNumber435,67850-52AttendedNumber293,51750-52Uptake%67.453-54InvitedNumber290,93653-54AttendedNumber200,13153-54Uptake%68.850-54InvitedNumber726,61450-54AttendedNumber493,64850-54Uptake%67.9  Coverage of the breast screening programme for those aged 53-54 in England, as at 31 March 2018: Number Resident811,351Number Eligible809,841Number Ineligible1,510Number never screened (either never invited or invited and did not attend)157,385Screened in last 3 years587,955Screening Coverage (%)72.6% It would not be suitable to provide coverage for the full 50-54 age group because the official coverage definition starts at age 53 (rather than age 50).

Department for International Development

Uganda: Education

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of for-profit organisations that deliver education in Uganda.

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of his Department's funding for education programmes in Uganda is allocated to for-profit organisations that deliver (a) core education services in schools and (b) ancillary services.

Andrew Stephenson: DFID does not currently fund for-profit organisations in Uganda to deliver education services. As a result, no recent assessment has been made of their performance.

Developing Countries: Third Sector

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Answer of 3 July 2019 to Question 272862 on Developing Countries: Third Sector, what proportion of the £1.3 billion allocated by his Department to fund the work of civil society was spent on civil society organisations registered in developing countries.

Dr Andrew Murrison: A full answer to this question could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. DFID is committed to working with Civil Society Organisations based in developing countries. Funding is available through our country offices, and both streams of the latest funding round of UK Aid Direct were open to applications from the global south.

Developing Countries: Human Rights

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Answer of 11 July 2019 to Question 272858 on Developing Countries: Human Rights, what plans he has to raise awareness of the Government document entitled, UK support for human rights defenders, to (a) his Department's staff and (b) human rights defenders.

Andrew Stephenson: FCO and DFID have conducted a number of awareness raising activities for the ‘UK Support for Human Rights Defenders’ document both before and after its publication. During its development a selected number of overseas diplomatic posts, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and human rights defenders were consulted. Following its publication and announcement at the Global Conference for Media Freedom in July, the document has been made available on GOV.UK in all six UN languages. The document has been sent to all posts in the UK diplomatic network encouraging them to use it in the course of their work with human rights defenders as well as to relevant policy staff in DFID headquarters. The document has also been circulated on external websites such as Human Rights Watch, Global Witness, and the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. The FCO and DFID will continue their outreach with human rights networks, NGOs and human rights defenders. Lord Ahmad has also written to Michelle Bachelet (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights) to inform her of the document. The FCO and DFID will continue to look for opportunities to further promote and publicise the document including Human Rights Defenders Day on 9 December and Human Rights Day on 10 December.

Sub-saharan Africa: Foreign Relations

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many times the Sub-Saharan Africa National Security Strategy Implementation Group has met since its formation.

Andrew Stephenson: National Strategy Implementation Groups implement National Security Council direction for specific priority areas, which can change over time. It would not be appropriate to provide a running public commentary on their work, as some National Strategy Implementation Group work could be sensitive at the time.

Africa: Foreign Relations

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the membership is of the Sub-Saharan Africa National Security Strategy Implementation Group and Whitehall Africa Group.

Andrew Stephenson: The Sub-Saharan Africa National Strategy Implementation Group and Whitehall Africa Group takes a collective, cross government approach; convening authoritative representatives from the Departments and Agencies central to deliver its responsibilities.

Developing Countries: Insurance

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to support the provision of affordable micro-level insurance services in developing countries.

Andrew Stephenson: In support of the Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 8, DFID is committed to ensuring that individuals in developing countries have access to affordable and appropriate financial services, including in insurance.DFID supports the creation of an enabling environment for insurance services in developing countries through our funding to Financial Sector Deepening Africa who are working with local insurance regulators to adopt more effective policy frameworks and digitally-enabled product innovations.We are also funding the World Bank’s Harnessing Innovation in Financial Inclusion programme. This seven-year programme is aimed at enabling financial inclusion on a sustainable basis, using technology to help poor people in developing countries access and use financial services.

Democratic Republic of Congo: HIV Infection

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the HIV epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Andrew Stephenson: The UK is a longstanding donor to the health sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Over the past six years, we have provided better basic health services to 9.7 million people. Through bilateral and multilateral partners such as the Global Fund, we are contributing directly to tackling HIV/AIDS through the following interventions: (i) Provision of treatment for HIV/AIDS cases and strengthening the health system to respond to cases;(ii) Provision of treatment for sexually transmitted infection and to survivors of sexual violence; and(iii) Increase community awareness and case reporting of sexual violence.

Developing Countries: HIV Infection

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's programmes in reducing the global incidence of HIV/AIDS; and what plans he has for the future of those programmes.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK government recently announced that it will step up its efforts to end the preventable deaths of mothers, new-borns, and children. The UK’s work on ending new HIV infections and preventing AIDS-related deaths is a part of that commitment. We recently announced a 16% increase in our contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria – £1.4 billion for this year’s replenishment. In 2018 alone, UK aid helped the Global Fund to provide 18.9 million people with antiretroviral therapy and protect nearly 700,000 babies from being infected by their mothers.DFID’s assessment of progress on reducing global incidence of HIV/AIDS are informed by annual reviews of our programmes, which are publicly available on the DFID Development Tracker, along with reports and data produced by UNAIDS and other partners including the World Health Organisation and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.

Developing Countries: Disability

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to integrate a life cycle approach that reaches older women and men into its work to help disabled people.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK Government recognises that older people with disabilities experience a range of complex barriers and face multiple exclusions. DFID’s Strategy for Disability Inclusive Development 2018-23 sets out our vision of a world where people with disabilities at all stages of their lives are engaged, empowered and able to exercise and enjoy their rights on an equal basis with others. The strategy takes a life-course approach, ensuring the delivery of transformative change for persons with disabilities of all ages. DFID has taken important steps to meet this ambition, including supporting governments to make vital social protection systems more inclusive. For example, the UK has been proud to partner with the Government of Uganda over the last 10 years to deliver a Senior Citizen Grant, which includes support for over 70,000 older people with disabilities each year.

Overseas Aid

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking to meet the Government commitment that all Departments be graded good or very good for the transparency of their official development assistance spending by 2020.

Andrew Stephenson: DFID continues to provide support to all government departments to improve the transparency of official development assistance spending. During 2019 DFID commissioned a formal assessment to measure progress towards the Government’s aid transparency commitments. The results of this assessment will be published in December.

Overseas Aid

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking to increase the proportion of official development assistance spent in the least developed countries.

Andrew Stephenson: UK aid aims to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the Government’s objectives as set out in the 2015 UK Aid Strategy. As such, the UK focuses most of its aid spending on countries with the highest need; in low-income, fragile, and conflict-affected regions. Some assistance is provided to middle-income countries where there are still enduring high levels of poverty. These countries may no longer need grant aid, but may require assistance in other ways, such as technical expertise or help raising their own revenue to reduce poverty. The 2016 bilateral and multilateral development reviews (available here and here) set out our approach to allocations in more detail.

Developing Countries: Education

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking to increase the proportion of bilateral official development assistance spent on education.

Andrew Stephenson: Helping poor countries provide 12 years of good quality education, particularly for girls, is a top priority for this Government. DFID Ministers have approved seven new country education programmes with a total value of £640m in sub-Saharan Africa where education outcomes lag furthest behind, to drive progress on the Sustainable Development Goal for education and meet the commitments in DFID’s 2018 ‘Get Children Learning’ Policy. In addition, the UK remains a lead donor to the major multilateral education funds the Global Partnership for Education and Education Cannot Wait – the education in emergencies fund – and has made the leading pledge to the new International Finance Facility for Education which will improve standards and increase education finance in Lower-Middle Income Countries.

Syria: Humanitarian Aid

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment his Department has made of the humanitarian situation in north east Syria.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The situation in Northeast Syria remains very fluid, and we are continually adjusting our assessment of the current impact on the humanitarian situation in the region at this stage. Prior to the recent military action, there were already 1.65 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in the region. The UN reports at least 170,000 people have been displaced since the Turkish military action began, including at least 70,000 children. Critical civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, has also been affected by the conflict. The ongoing military action on the ground is also impacting the humanitarian response. Many NGOs have already had to withdraw staff, and some have suspended activities altogether. This is very concerning, and we are discussing closely with our NGO partners and the UN. The Secretary of State has been in contact with Sir Mark Lowcock, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, to identify any gaps in the humanitarian response, and ensure those affected by the situation in Northeast Syria are getting the support they need.

Department for Education

Department for Education: Energy Supply

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 2 October 2019 to Question 290326 and to the Answer of 1 October 2019 to Question 290324, if he will introduce the same policy as the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and switch to an electricity provider that supplies electricity solely from renewable resources within the next 12 months; and for what reason his Department has not already ensured its electricity is supplied solely from renewable resources.

Michelle Donelan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend, the Minister for School Standards, Nick Gibb gave on 2 October 2019 to Question 290326.

Apprentices: Taxation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help businesses make effective use of the Apprenticeship Levy funding.

Michelle Donelan: The department is responsible for apprenticeships policy in England and is working closely on the Industrial Strategy with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to meet the skills needs of business. The Apprenticeship Levy gives employers control of the apprenticeship training that they buy. We continue to work closely with all employers in England to help them take advantage of the levy and wider funding arrangements to invest in their long-term skills needs. In response to feedback from employers, in April 2019 we raised the amount that levy-paying employers can transfer to other employers to 25% of the annual value of their fund. This increase offers levy-paying employers more options in how they use their funds and also gives them the opportunity to support apprenticeships locally or within supply chains. We provide ongoing face-to-face support for over 1,000 of the largest levy-paying employers through our network of national account managers. We also support a further 4,500 levy-payers through our dedicated telephone account management service. We have recently held 8 country-wide roadshows, attended by over 800 employers, to communicate with large employers and encourage them to share good practice. Our National Apprenticeship Service provides free impartial advice to all employers, including small and medium-sized businesses, via its helpline. It also works through intermediary organisations to reach smaller employers and increase their engagement in apprenticeships.We produce a range of guidance for employers which is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeships-guide-for-employers.

Further Education: Pay

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to close the pay gap between staff teaching further education in further education colleges and staff teaching further education in schools.

Michelle Donelan: We greatly value our further education (FE) teachers and all the excellent work they do in supporting learners from a wide range of backgrounds, improving productivity and social mobility.We know FE faces cost pressures, and that this impacts on teacher pay. We have announced a 16-19 funding increase of £400 million in 2020-21, in addition to funding the extra costs of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme in the same year. This is the largest injection of new money in a decade. This includes £20 million of new funding for the FE workforce.However, FE and sixth form colleges have a different legal status and relationship to the government when compared with schools. They are private sector institutions, responsible for setting their own pay and conditions. FE colleges are not in scope for school pay arrangements.

Education: Hearing Impairment

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of post-education destinations of deaf young people.

Michelle Donelan: We want all children and young people, no matter what their special education need or disability, to be able to reach their full potential and receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The SEND Code of Practice explicitly states that all children and young people with SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) should be prepared for adulthood, including higher education and employment, and that this preparation should start early. The latest available data shows that, when compared to all pupils, pupils finishing key stage 4 who have an identified hearing impairment were similarly likely to have a sustained education, employment or apprenticeship destination (both at 94% for the 2016/17 cohort). The majority (88%) stayed in education, 3% went to apprenticeships and 3% had an employment destination. Overall, outcomes for this group of students have remained stable for the last 3 years for which data is available (the 2014/15 to 2016/17 key stage 4 cohorts). Destination data for learners aged 16 to 18 is published with a SEND/non-SEND breakdown, but data is not broken down by type of need for this age group.We are currently exploring the possibility of launching a large-scale longitudinal study of children and young people with SEND in England, which would allow us to gather evidence on progress and long-term outcomes for these pupils, including on preparation for adulthood. The initial intensive research activity for this work is currently underway and will provide methodological recommendations on how this work could be progressed.

Department for Education: Public Appointments

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which public appointments he is responsible for.

Michelle Donelan: The public appointments that the department is responsible for making are set out in the Schedule to the Public Appointments Order in Council 2019, which is available here: https://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019-Public-Appointments-Order-In-Council.pdf.

Supply Teachers

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to review agency fees in relation to supply teachers.

Nick Gibb: There are no current plans to review agency fees in relation to supply teachers, as these remain to be determined between schools and agencies. The Department has launched a new deal in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service to support schools with getting value for money when hiring agency supply teachers and other temporary staff. Agencies on the deal must be open and consistent with schools and staff about the rates they charge, conduct that is expected, rigorous background screening checks and adhere to strict controls around the charging of temporary-to-permanent fees. The Department continues to recommend schools to use suppliers that offer the best rates and value for money for their agency staffing needs. Information on the guidance included in the deal is available here:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deal-for-schools-hiring-supply-teachers-and-agency-workers.

Apprentices: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeship starts there were in Romford constituency in each year since 2010.

Michelle Donelan: Our reforms have fundamentally changed what apprenticeships are and the long-term opportunities they provide. The minimum 20% off-the-job training rule, the shift to higher quality standards with a longer average duration and the drop-off in frameworks have already contributed to a 26% rise in average expected apprenticeship training hours over the past year. The apprenticeship levy and funding arrangements are an important part of our changes to raise apprenticeship quality, supporting employers to make a long-term sustainable investment in training. The profile of apprenticeship starts changed significantly prior to, and following, the introduction of our reforms; care should therefore be taken in comparing and interpreting this data. The number of apprenticeship starts in the Romford parliamentary constituency in each academic year since 2005/06 is given in the attached table. Please note that the figures for 2018/19 are provisional and cover the period August 2018 to April 2019. Finalised figures for the 2018/19 academic year will be published in November 2019.The Further Education data library contains additional breakdowns of apprenticeship starts, by characteristics such as age, level and sector subject area:  https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships. 



1612_table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 46 KB)

Schools: Transport

Alberto Costa: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a requirement for school buses to have (a) seat belts and (b) sufficient seats for school children to avoid standing.

Nick Gibb: Buses and coaches used to take pupils to and from school are subject to Department for Transport legislation on vehicle safety. Guidance relating to the law on seat belts is available at the following links: www.gov.uk/government/publications/seat-belts-in-minibuses-coaches-and-other-buses/seat-belts-in-minibuses-coaches-and-other-buses and www.gov.uk/government/publications/seat-belts-on-urban-buses/seatbelts-on-urban-buses. Public service buses designed for urban use are not required to have seat belts, including when they are used for school transport. Such buses are generally also allowed to carry standing passengers. Local authorities may specify in their contracts with school transport providers that they will only accept vehicles fitted with seat belts. The Department is currently consulting on revised statutory guidance on home to school transport and will consider as part of that consultation whether it should include guidance on this issue.

Children in Care

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of looked after children in children's homes in each year since 2015.

Michelle Donelan: The number of looked after children by placement since 2015 are published in Table A2 of the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption’, available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018.

Children: Social Services

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support improved provision of services by local authorities for vulnerable children.

Michelle Donelan: All children, no matter where they live, should have access to the support they need to keep them safe, provide them with a stable and nurturing home, and overcome challenges to achieve their potential. That is why, at the Spending Round 2019, the government confirmed an additional £1 billion grant for adult and children’s social care in 2020-21. Overall, core spending power is expected to rise from £46.2 billion to £49.1 billion in 2020-21, an estimated 4.3% real terms increase.However, funding to local government is only part of the solution. We are also implementing an extensive programme of reforms designed to deliver improved outcomes for these children, young people and families. This includes investing £84 million over the next 5 years in targeted, evidence-based interventions to improve the support provided to vulnerable children and their families and enable more children to stay at home thriving in stable family environments. On top of this, we have committed nearly £270 million since 2014 to drive improvement and innovation in children’s social care.

Universities: Admissions

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect of unconditional university offers on the motivation of students.

Chris Skidmore: The department is concerned about an increase in unconditional offers, in particular conditional unconditional offers, and any adverse impact they may be having on students’ motivation and restricting student choice. The independent regulatory body for higher education, the Office for Students (OfS), will be monitoring types of offers and their impact as part of its wider review of admissions, which is underway.The OfS has powers set down in legislation to take action if it has evidence that a higher education provider is acting in a way that harms the prospects of students, through restricting the choice and opportunity available to them, or failing to deliver successful outcomes.

Apprentices: Arts

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprentices there have been in arts, media and publishing in each of the regions of England in each of the last five years.

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprentices there have been in arts, media and publishing by (a) gender and (b) ethnic group in each of the last five years.

Michelle Donelan: The department routinely publishes data on apprenticeship starts in the further education data library: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships.The attached tables contain the figures for apprenticeship starts for the sector subject area ‘Arts, media and publishing’ for each academic year from the published tables.The profile of apprenticeship starts changed significantly prior to, and following, the introduction of our reforms; care should therefore be taken in comparing and interpreting this data.



2869_2870_Tables
(Excel SpreadSheet, 1.73 MB)

Corporal Punishment: Children

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to ban the physical punishment of children.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department collects information on the public’s view of corporal punishment of children.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of smacking as a form of punishment on children’s mental health.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department collects data on the prevalence of the use of smacking by parents as a form of punishment in (a) Norfolk and (b) other counties.

Michelle Donelan: The government does not wish to interfere in how loving families bring up their children. Legislation already exists to ban the beating of children by their parents; the defence of reasonable chastisement can only be used when a parent is accused of assault and not when the charge is actual bodily harm, grievous bodily harm or child cruelty.The government is aware of recent legislation in Scotland and plans for similar legislation in Wales. We have conducted no recent assessment of the merits of legislation to ban the physical punishment of children by their parents, nor have we gathered information about the public’s view of this issue or assessed the effect of smacking on children’s mental health. We have not collected data on the prevalence of smacking in Norfolk or the rest of England.

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Discipline

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many adjudications there were per 100 (a) male and (b) female prisoners by reason for the adjudication in the latest year for which information is available.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many adjudications relating to violence in prison resulted in (a) awards of additional days being added to a prisoner's sentence and (b) average number of additional days added to a sentence for incidents of violence against (i) prison staff and (ii) other prisoners in each year since 2011.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of adjudications resulted in no additional days being added to a prisoner's sentence by reason for the adjudication in each year since 2010; and what proportion of such adjudications were in respect of evidence of violence against (a) prison staff and (b) other prisoners during that time period.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of days that were added to a prisoner's sentence for violence against (a) a member of staff and (b) another prisoner was in each year since 2010.

Lucy Frazer: The prisoner discipline system upholds justice in prisons and ensures incidents of prisoner rule-breaking have consequences. In cases which the prison governor deems the rule-breaking to be sufficiently serious an Independent Adjudicator, appointed by the Chief Magistrate, can attend a prison to award additional days to the prisoner’s custodial time left to serve. Where an act of violence amounts to a criminal offence, prisoners should will be investigated by the police and face serious sanctions. Information on the proportion of adjudications which resulted in no additional days being added to a prisoner's time in custody by offence is not routinely extracted from the adjudications database, as the primary purpose of the database is to report on the volume of punishments imposed. Prisoners can receive more than one punishment for the same offence, so in order to collect this specific information on prisoners, a matching exercise using prison population and adjudication databases would be required to identify each individual prisoner who was sanctioned under the Prison Rules. As a result, the data could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Information on the number of adjudications for violence which resulted in additional days to a prisoner’s custodial time to serve is publicly available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly. The publicly available data also provides information on the number of adjudications by gender and adjudication offence. See Table A5.1 at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/796921/adjudications-2018.odsOn the prison population for 30 June 2018, select table A1.1 using the link below:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/820163/population-30June2019-annual.ods.The number of adjudications per 100 male and female prisoners can be calculated from tables A5.1 and A1.1, but this information has been attached to this response for ease. Information on the number of awards of additional days where an adjudication involving violence against staff and prisoners was proven and the average number of additional days added for 2011 – 2018 is also attached to this response. Please note that due to data quality issues, 2010 figures have not been provided and therefore no conclusion can be drawn for the annual 2010 data and no comparison can be made with 2010 figures.

Prisoners: Domestic Abuse

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of men in prison who have been victims of domestic violence.

Lucy Frazer: The information requested is not collected by the Ministry of Justice.

Prison Sentences

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans the Government has to produce a Green Paper on a presumption against shorter sentences.

Chris Philp: Protecting the public will always be our priority. Community sentences will continue to be an important part of punishing and rehabilitating offenders. Following the urgent internal review of sentencing, the Government has recently announced a Sentencing Bill. This Bill will contain a range of measures targeted at serious violent and sexual offenders, but will also contain proposals for community penalties that offer an appropriate level of punishment, while tackling the underlying drivers of re-offending. Before the Sentencing Bill is introduced the Government intends to publish a White Paper setting out proposals for reform.

Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the level of outstanding prison repairs over the next three years.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of prison repair work over the next three years.

Lucy Frazer: We acknowledge there is a significant need for maintenance investment in the existing prison estate and are committed to reducing the level of outstanding prison repairs. We are therefore providing additional funding to improve the condition of the estate. In 2020/21 we have secured an additional £156m on top of existing funding, which will be targeted at addressing the most urgent maintenance needs including health & safety, fire safety, and critical prison capacity issues. However, we are aware that even this enhanced level of funding will not, on its own, be sufficient to manage the existing backlog and so we will also be seeking further maintenance funding in future spending rounds.

Rape: Trials

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) mean and (b) median waiting times were in weeks for trials where the defendants entered a not guilty plea for a rape charge in each Crown Court in England and Wales in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2018.

Chris Philp: The information requested about the waiting times for trials where the defendant has entered a not guilty plea for a rape charge in 2010 and 2018 can be found in the attached Excel document. Due to small number of defendants pleading not guilty to these offences at individual Crown Courts, we have not supplied the average waiting times for courts where fewer than five defendants pleaded not guilty. Basing an average on such small numbers can skew the mean and result in the figures being unrepresentative. Performance, demand and waiting times in the courts are constantly reviewed to balance sitting days with waiting times, disposals and receipts. Resources are adjusted when appropriate. Demand has been falling in recent years and sitting days have been reduced accordingly. The abolition of committal hearings in 2013 transferred the file preparation period from the magistrates’ court to the Crown Court and so comparisons between pre-2013 data and post-2013 data do not compare like with like. We will continue to review demand and performance in the Crown Courts and will ensure they have the resource they require.



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 17.08 KB)

Burglary: Trials

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) mean and (b) median waiting times were in weeks for trials where the defendants entered a not guilty plea for a burglary charge in each Crown Court in England and Wales in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2018.

Chris Philp: The information requested about the waiting times for trials were a defendant has entered a not guilty plea for a burglary charge in 2010 and 2018 can be found in the attached Excel document. Due to the small number of defendants pleading not guilty to these offences at individual Crown Courts, we have not supplied the average waiting times for courts where fewer than five defendants pleaded not guilty. Basing an average on such small numbers can skew the mean and result in the figures being unrepresentative. Performance, demand and waiting times in the courts are constantly reviewed to balance sitting days with waiting times, disposals and receipts. Resources are adjusted when appropriate. Demand has been falling in recent years and sitting days have been reduced accordingly. The abolition of committal hearings in 2013 transferred the file preparation period from the magistrates’ court to the Crown Court and so comparisons between pre-2013 data and post-2013 data do not compare like with like. We will continue to review demand and performance in the Crown Courts and will ensure they have the resource they require.



Table 
(Excel SpreadSheet, 17.2 KB)

Crimes against the Person: Trials

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) mean and (b) median waiting times were in weeks for trials where the defendants entered a not guilty plea for an assault charge in each Crown Court in England and Wales in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2018.

Chris Philp: The information requested about the waiting times for a trial where the defendant has entered a not guilty plea for an assault charge in 2010 and 2018 can be found in the attached Excel document. Due to the small number of defendants pleading not guilty to these offences at individual Crown Courts, we have not supplied the average waiting times for courts where fewer than five defendants pleaded not guilty. Basing an average on such small numbers can skew the mean and result in the figures being unrepresentative. Performance, demand and waiting times in the courts are constantly reviewed to balance sitting days with waiting times, disposals and receipts. Resources are adjusted when appropriate. Demand has been falling in recent years and sitting days have been reduced accordingly. The abolition of committal hearings in 2013 transferred the file preparation period from the magistrates’ court to the Crown Court and so comparisons between pre-2013 data and post-2013 data do not compare like with like. We will continue to review demand and performance in the Crown Courts and will ensure they have the resource they require.



Table 1
(Excel SpreadSheet, 17.35 KB)

Stalking: Trials

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) mean and (b) median waiting times were in weeks for trials where the defendants entered a not guilty plea for a stalking charge in each Crown Court in England and Wales in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2018.

Chris Philp: The information requested about the waiting times for trials where the defendant has entered a not guilty plea for a stalking charge in 2010 and 2018 can be found in the attached Excel document. Due to the small number of defendants pleading not guilty to these offences at individual Crown Courts, we have not supplied the average waiting times for courts where fewer than five defendants pleaded not guilty. Basing an average on such small numbers can skew the mean and result in the figures being unrepresentative. Performance, demand and waiting times in the courts are constantly reviewed to balance sitting days with waiting times, disposals and receipts. Resources are adjusted when appropriate. Demand has been falling in recent years and sitting days have been reduced accordingly. The abolition of committal hearings in 2013 transferred the file preparation period from the magistrates’ court to the Crown Court and so comparisons between pre-2013 data and post-2013 data do not compare like with like. We will continue to review demand and performance in the Crown Courts and will ensure they have the resource they require.



Annex A
(Excel SpreadSheet, 21.52 KB)

Religious Hatred: Trials

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) mean and (b) median waiting times were in weeks for trials where the defendants entered a not guilty plea for a racially or religiously aggravated harassment charge in each Crown Court in England and Wales in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2018.

Chris Philp: The information requested about the waiting times for trials where the defendant has entered a not guilty plea for a racially or religiously aggravated harassment charge in 2010 and 2018 can be found in the attached Excel document. Due to the small number of defendants pleading not guilty to these offences at individual Crown Courts, we have not supplied the average waiting times for courts where fewer than five defendants pleaded not guilty. Basing an average on such small numbers can skew the mean and result in the figures being unrepresentative. Performance, demand and waiting times in the courts are constantly reviewed to balance sitting days with waiting times, disposals and receipts. Resources are adjusted when appropriate. Demand has been falling in recent years and sitting days have been reduced accordingly. The abolition of committal hearings in 2013 transferred the file preparation period from the magistrates’ court to the Crown Court and so comparisons between pre-2013 data and post-2013 data do not compare like with like. We will continue to review demand and performance in the Crown Courts and will ensure they have the resource they require.



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 15.72 KB)

Firearms: Trials

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) mean and (b) median waiting times were in weeks for trials where the defendants entered a not guilty plea for a possession of weapons charge in each Crown Court in England and Wales in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2018.

Chris Philp: The information requested about the waiting times for trials where the defendant has entered a not guilty plea for a possession of weapons charge in 2010 and 2018 can be found in the attached Excel document. Due to the small number of defendants pleading not guilty to these offences at individual Crown Courts, we have not supplied the average waiting times for courts where fewer than five defendants pleaded not guilty. Basing an average on such small numbers can skew the mean and result in the figures being unrepresentative. Performance, demand and waiting times in the courts are constantly reviewed to balance sitting days with waiting times, disposals and receipts. Resources are adjusted when appropriate. Demand has been falling in recent years and sitting days have been reduced accordingly. The abolition of committal hearings in 2013 transferred the file preparation period from the magistrates’ court to the Crown Court and so comparisons between pre-2013 data and post-2013 data do not compare like with like. We will continue to review demand and performance in the Crown Courts and will ensure they have the resource they require.



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 17.47 KB)

Legal Representation: Coroners

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure greater equality between the amount spent on legal representation by (a) families who are publicly funded and (b) mental health trusts at inquests following the death of a relative in a mental health unit.

Wendy Morton: Legal aid is available for advice and assistance for all inquests, subject to a means and merits test. Inquests follow an inquisitorial process and legal aid support for representation is not typically applicable. Exceptional Case Funding may be available where certain inquests require legal representation. The Government wants to ensure that the bereaved are placed at the heart of the inquisitorial process and is taking forward a number of measures announced in the recent Review of Legal Aid for Inquests to make the inquest process more sympathetic to the needs of bereaved families; the Government also has work underway looking at the prevention of deaths of people who are in the care of the state.

Resomation

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing resomation to be used as an alternative to flame cremation.

Wendy Morton: The Government has not made such an assessment.

Ministry of Justice: Ystradffin Farm

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what interest his Department has in Ystradffin Farm, Rhandirmwyn, Llandovery SA20 0PG; and what use is intended for that land.

Chris Philp: The Ministry of Justice provides a range of estates management services to other government departments, including the Home Office. A lease, in the name of the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, has been taken, on behalf of the Home Office, to accommodate infrastructure for the new Emergency Services Network (ESN). The site at Ystradffin Farm was identified by the ESN Programme as a suitable location for a 22.5m Extended Area Service (EAS) Communications Tower (lattice mast). Planning for the site has been submitted but not yet granted.

Ministry of Justice: Public Appointments

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which public appointments he is responsible for.

Chris Philp: As set out in Article 2(2) Bodies and Offices Regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments of the Order in Council 2019, the Secretary of State for Justice is responsible for the following appointments: Advisory Committees on Justices of the PeaceAdvisory Council on Conscientious Objectors (This is an MoD Public Body - It was established in 1970 but its history can be traced back to the tribunals set up by the National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The 1970 arrangements included an agreement that, to make sure of the independence of the committee, these appointments should be made by the Lord Chancellor). Chair of the National Council of Prisoner Escort and Custody Services Lay ObserversChildren and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass)Civil Justice Council (CJC)Civil Procedure Rule CommitteeCommissioner for Victims and WitnessesCourt ExaminersCourt of Protection VisitorsCriminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC)Criminal Procedure Rule CommitteeFamily Procedure Rule CommitteeHer Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and WalesHer Majesty's Chief Inspector of ProbationIndependent Advisory Panel on Deaths in CustodyIndependent Monitoring Board of any prison or young offender institution (IMBs)Insolvency Rules Committee (This is a BEIS Public Body. However, legislation explains that the Lord Chancellor is responsible for making the public appointments).Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman (JACO)Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC)Judicial Pension Board, independent Chair and independent members onlyLaw Commission, except for the ChairLegal Services Board (LSB)Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements Lay Advisers (MAPPA)National Chair of the Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB)National Mental Capacity Forum, Chair OnlyNon-Judicial Members of Disciplinary Panels of the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO)Parole Board for England and Wales, except for judicial membersPersons appointed by the Lord Chancellor under section 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Legal Aid Agency: Funding and Costs Appeals Review Panel Members and Very High Cost Cases Appeals Panel Members)Prisoner Escort and Custody Services Lay Observers (PECS)Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO)Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB)Sentencing Council for England and WalesTribunal Procedure Committee (TPC)Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB)

Members: Correspondence

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to respond to the letter from hon. Member for Enfield North of 27 August 2019 on the Government's urgent sentencing review.

Chris Philp: My Rt. Hon. friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Robert Buckland has responded to the letter from hon. Member for Enfield North, on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Ministry of Justice: Islam

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff in his Department reported their religion as Islam in the latest period for which figures are available; what the reported ethnicity of those staff was; and how many of those staff were employed at each grade.

Chris Philp: Table 1 - MoJ Muslim1 staff by ethnicity1 and grade, as at 30 June 2019 GradeAsian or Asian BritishBlack or Black BritishMixed or Mixed BritishWhiteOtherUnknown2TotalSCS-------Band A31~~~~~37Band B95~~~~~114Band C1401254713181Band D2091076513250Band E7295414243838897Band F77163484112NPS (No Equivalent) and unknown198191410613260Total1479116465671831851 NoteEthnicity and religion are self-declared optional fields.Includes "Prefer not to say", and non-responses.~ denotes values of 2 or fewer, suppressed for reasons of data protection, or values suppressed for reasons of secondary suppression to prevent disclosure in cases where totals would reveal suppressed values.

Legal Aid Agency: Standards

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) key performance indicators are for the Legal Aid Agency and (b) average annual performance of the agency has been against those indicators.

Wendy Morton: The Legal Aid Agency publishes a Business Plan on an annual basis, which looks forward and sets out its performance measures for the coming year. The most recent Business Plan (for the 2019/20 financial year) was published on GOV.UK on 13 June 2019 and can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/legal-aid-agency-business-plan-2019-to-2020The Legal Aid Agency also publishes its Annual Report and Accounts, which look back retrospectively on performance from the previous year and reviews how it has performed. The most recent Annual Report and Accounts (for the 2018/19 financial year) was published on 4th July 2019 and can be accessed at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/legal-aid-agency-annual-report-and-accounts-2018-to-2019

Offenders: Work Experience

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total number of offender work placement hours spent on maintenance tasks was in each year for which information is available, by prison.

Lucy Frazer: Records of the hours of work done by prisoners are not centrally held, and individual prisons will keep their own records in relation to this. This is due to the fact that this information relates to the rehabilitation of prisoners, which is within the operational remit of prison governors. Gathering this information would represent disproportionate cost, and not be achievable within this timeframe. Prison work programmes may vary, and be organised though schemes operated by facilities management providers or organised by individual prison governors.

Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reactive repair in-month completion rate was for each prison in (a) 2010 (b) the latest year for which figures are available.

Lucy Frazer: Please see the accompanying document, which details the reactive repairs completed each month. Faults are reported on the facilities management system online, or via a telephone help desk.Local maintenance teams then create a work order and assign an appropriate tradesperson to complete the work. Following completion, the work order is closed on the facilities management system. Contractor performance is monitored closely.

Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reactive repair limit is under the prison maintenance contract with Amey.

Lucy Frazer: The reactive repair limit under the prison maintenance contact held with Amey is £750 (excluding VAT).

Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) key performance indicators are for Amey under the prison maintenance contracts and (b) average annual performance of Amey has been against those indicators.

Lucy Frazer: Please see the accompanying document, which details the KPI regime for the facilities management contract HMPPS holds with Amey, as well as the recorded performance against these KPI’s averaged across the last 12 months for which this data is available (June 2017- May 2018). Contractor performance is robustly monitored and we will not hesitate to take action where standards fall short.

Reoffenders: Sentencing

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of six month prison sentences for criminals on re-offending rates.

Chris Philp: We are clear that sentencing must match the severity of a crime and public protection is our priority.The latest proven reoffending rate for offenders released from sentences of six months or less in the quarter July to September 2017 was almost two thirds (64.8%).That is why, one of the first acts by this Prime Minister was to order an urgent review of sentencing, which included looking at changes to sentencing for the most prolific offenders which could help break the cycle of re-offending. Based on the findings of this review, we have announced a Sentencing Bill, which will contain proposals for community penalties that offer an appropriate level of punishment, while tackling the underlying drivers of re-offending.Custody should be available as a last resort, but if we are to break the cycle of reoffending, solutions will often lie in community sentences, including those which address offenders’ behaviour, answer their mental health and alcohol or drug misuse needs, or provide reparation for the benefit of the wider community.

Department for International Trade

Overseas Trade

Jane Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the Atomic Energy Community published on 19 October 2019 on UK trade.

Conor Burns: The new Brexit deal that the Government has agreed with the EU provides the basis of a new relationship with the EU based on free trade and friendly cooperation. We have agreed with the EU in the Political Declaration to seek an "ambitious, broad, deep and flexible partnership across trade and economic cooperation with a comprehensive and balanced Free Trade Agreement (FTA) at its core. Once Parliament has agreed this deal, we are looking forward to working with our partners in the EU to negotiate the details of that FTA. Ahead of that negotiation, it is not the appropriate time to publish a speculative analysis of what the outcome of those negotiations might be. But once we leave the EU, we will be able to pursue an independent trade policy, with the opportunity to strike trade deals all around the world.

Arms Trade: Turkey

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a suspension of arms sales to Turkey as a result of Turkish operations in northern Syria; and if he will make a statement.

Graham Stuart: The Government continues to monitor the situation in Syria very closely and is considering the licensing position in the light of recent developments. No further export licences to Turkey for items which might be used in military operations in Syria will be granted while we do so.

Leader of the House

Leader of the House of Commons: Public Appointments

Jon Trickett: To ask the Leader of the House, which public appointments he is responsible for.

Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg: The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons sits within the Cabinet Office. The public appointments that the Cabinet Office is responsible for making are set out in the Schedule to the Public Appointments Order in Council 2019. This is available at: https://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019-Public-Appointments-Order-In-Council.pdf

Private Members' Bills: Timetabling of Bills

David Linden: To ask the Leader of the House, if he will make it his policy to bring forward proposals on timetabling for Private Members' Bills.

Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg: Private Members’ Bills (PMBs) provide a valuable opportunity for members to promote legislation on the causes they support. The Government has a good record of supporting PMBs and last session the highest number of PMBs received Royal Assent since 2003. The Government has no plans to bring forward proposals on timetabling for PMBs.

Ministry of Defence

Baker Barracks

Gillian Keegan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will (a) undertake a review of the building quality at Baker Barracks, Thorney Island and (b) outline plans to ensure accommodation for serving service personnel is well maintained.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Further to the recent major refurbishment and investment totalling around £27 million, a site review of Baker Barracks is due to begin shortly. This will look at potential future areas for development, any refurbishment plans and provide a road map for the next 25 years.All Service Family Accommodation is maintained through a programme of pre-planned improvement works, and response maintenance to repair defects. This approach means that all properties meet the Government's Decent Homes Standard at the point of occupation, with ongoing restorative action as required.The Army is initiating an estate wide Single Living Accommodation (SLA) programme to improve the condition of Army SLA. The SLA at Baker Barracks will be considered and prioritised for funding within this programme.

Veterans: Pensions

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans receive an armed forces occupational pension in (a) Mansfield and (b) Nottinghamshire.

Johnny Mercer: As at 1 April 2019 the number of veterans receiving an Armed Forces occupational pension under the Armed Forces Pension Schemes residing in Mansfield is 916 and Nottinghamshire, as a whole, is 10,850.

Defence: International Cooperation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to increase the UK's defence representation throughout the world.

Mark Lancaster: As noted in the report on the Modernising Defence Programme earlier this year, we are continuing to invest in and grow our Global network of Defence personnel. Since the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review we have strengthened existing Defence Sections, established 12 new Defence Sections and created two new deployed regional British Defence Staffs. We also have measures in place to improve the selection and training of Defence Advisors, Attaches and their support staff.

Army: Finance

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether lessons learned from recent urban operations in Raqqa and Mosul where the UK provided non-combat training and advice to partner forces have informed his Department’s plans to allocate funding for new urban capability to dismounted infantry.

Mark Lancaster: Following any major conflict, lessons are identified and reviewed; changes are then made if required. The recent operations in Raqqa and Mosul are no different and have contributed to initiatives improving the equipment of the dismounted soldier in the urban environment.

Ministry of Defence: Climate Change

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what policy changes his Department has made as a result of the declaration of a climate emergency.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The Ministry of Defence is developing its response to the Government's Net Zero Greenhouse Gas emissions announcement of June 2019. A revised policy framework and implementation plan is being developed that covers Defence's impact on the climate (reducing emissions) and the impact of climate change on Defence (building operational resilience).

Ministry of Defence: Public Appointments

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which public appointments he is responsible for.

Johnny Mercer: As specified in the Public Appointments Order in Council 2019, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence is responsible for public appointments to the following public bodies and offices:Armed Forces Pay Review BodyDefence Nuclear Safety CommitteeIndependent Medical Expert GroupIndependent Monitoring Board for the Military Corrective Training CentreNuclear Research Advisory CouncilOil and Pipelines AgencyRoyal Air Force MuseumScience Advisory Committee on the Medical Implications of Less-Lethal WeaponsService Complaints OmbudsmanSingle Source Regulations OfficeVeterans Advisory and Pensions Committees

Defence: Modernisation

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to modernise defence strategy to ensure the UK can address hybrid threats.

Mark Lancaster: Hybrid threats require a whole of Government approach, not just Defence. Accordingly, the UK approach has centred upon using all arms of Government and the levers available to deter, respond to, and counter hostile activity.The Modernising Defence Programme, published in 2018, acknowledged that hybrid threats are one of the driving factors fundamentally changing the character of warfare and set out the ways in which Defence would mobilise, modernise and transform to address this. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is actively working to develop the right capabilities, policies and permissions to effectively respond to hybrid threats, and the additional £2.2 billion funding for Defence announced as part of Spending Round 19 is supporting that effort.We are also working to protect our conventional capabilities from new threats. The MOD has already invested significantly in cyber defence and security, across a broad range of its capabilities and infrastructure. This includes investing £12 million in the Defence Cyber School, £22 million on the creation of new cyber operations centres, and £40 million in the Cyber Security Operations Capability. £265 million has also been invested in a pioneering approach to root out cyber vulnerabilities within military platforms and wider cyber-dependent systems, helping Defence better understand and mitigate cyber risks.

Red Arrows

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Red Arrows will go on tour to foreign countries in the next three years; and what recent assessment he has made of the effect on UK based air shows of future Red Arrows international tours.

Mark Lancaster: The Red Arrows have a long history of overseas tours showcasing Britain at its best and will continue to undertake them. However, at this stage future overseas tours have not been confirmed.The RAF fully considers the overall benefits of Red Arrows tours around the UK and weighs this against the benefits of displaying overseas.Whilst overseas tours may limit the number of displays the Red Arrows can give in the UK during the summer display season, considerable effort is made to maximise the Red Arrows appearances in the UK. The RAF's other display assets including Typhoon, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the Falcons Parachute Team will continue to be available for airshows.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of new recruits to the armed forces came from the North East of England in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mark Lancaster: The requested information is provided in the following table: Proportion of North East of England Intake to the Untrained Regular Armed Forces, by Financial Year and Service Financial Year2014-152015-162016-172017-182018-19Royal Navy/Royal Marines6.5%7.8%6.6%7.0%5.7%  Financial Year2013-142014-152015-162016-172017-18Army5.3%7.1%6.7%5.7%5.9%  Financial Year2014-152015-162016-172017-182018-19Royal Air Force4.4%5.9%7.0%6.8%6.6% Notes:1) UK Regulars are full-time Service personnel, including Nursing Services and, excluding FTRS personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guarding Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), and Non-Regular Permanent Service (NRPS).2) Figures include both Officers and Other Ranks.3) Region has been identified from Contact Postcode as recorded in the Defence Recruitment System (DRS).4) Total includes personnel who do not have a full UK postcode recorded in DRS and those that have a service record that cannot be cross-referenced to DRS.5) 2018-19 statistics are not yet available for the Army, and so the latest available figures have been provided.

Armed Forces: Private Education

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many serving military officers of each rank used the Continuity of Education Allowance for pay for UK-based school fees in the last 12 months for which data is available.

Johnny Mercer: 1,730 military officers claimed Continuity of Education Allowance for UK based schools during the period 1 October 2018 to 30 September 2019 inclusive. The breakdown by rank is detailed below: UK military and NATO equivalent officer ranksNo of ClaimantsSub Lieutenant (RN)/Lieutenant (A)/Flying Officer/OF110Lieutenant (RN)/Captain (A)/Flight Lieutenant/OF2300Lieutenant Commander/Major/Squadron Leader/OF3460Commander/Lieutenant Colonel/Wing Commander/OF4570Captain (RN)/Colonel/Group Captain/OF5260Commodore/Brigadier/Air Commodore/OF6100Rear Admiral/Major General/Air Vice-Marshal/OF720Vice Admiral/Lieutenant General/Air Marshal/OF810Total1,730 In line with Defence Statistic Policy all figures have been rounded to the nearest 10, numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias.

Armed Forces: Private Education

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many claimants there were in each military rank of continuity of education allowance for placements at (a) Eton, (b) Charterhouse, (c) Harrow, (d) Rugby, (e) Shrewsbury, (f) Westminster, (g) Winchester, (h) St Paul's and (i) Merchant Taylors in 2018-19.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of continuity of education allowances for placements at (a) Fettes (b) Gordonstoun (c) Marlborough (d) King's Canterbury (e) Cheltenham (f) Tonbridge (g) Stowe (h) Benenden (i) Ampleforth and (j) Clifton private schools and colleges in 2018-19; how many claimants there were at each school and college in that year; and what the military rank was of each claimant.

Johnny Mercer: I am mindful of our obligations under the Data Protection Act and will, in due course write to the hon. Member with information which will not compromise the protections under the Act.

Department for Work and Pensions

Thomas Cook: Insolvency

Ms Lisa Forbes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding from the public purse she is allocating to provide former employees of Thomas Cook with immediate financial assistance.

Mims Davies: The information is not available.

Universal Credit

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps she has taken to ensure that universal credit claimants have access to support throughout the application process; and whether she plans to increase the number of universal credit telephone advisers.

Will Quince: The Department takes seriously the need to support vulnerable claimants, and wants the application process for Universal Credit to be as quick and easy as possible, ensuring that claimants receive money at the earliest opportunity. To support this, we keep staffing levels under constant review and at the required levels, ensuring we have the right number of people available to answer customer calls and to respond to forecasted demand. All Jobcentres across the country have Wi-Fi and computers available for claimants to access the internet. These devices are being upgraded in a programme due to be completed by the end of October 2019. For those that are still unable to access or use digital services, or are not able to travel, assistance to make and maintain their claim is available via the Freephone Universal Credit helpline. In certain circumstances, a home visit can be arranged to support a claimant in making and maintaining their claim Additionally, Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland have been delivering the ‘Help to Claim’ service on a pilot basis since April 2019, supporting claimants with making a new claim to Universal Credit. The Citizens Advice Help to Claim service offers tailored, practical support to help people make a Universal Credit claim up to receiving their first full correct payment on time, and is available online, on the phone and face-to-face through local Citizen’s Advice services.

Thomas Cook: Insolvency

Ms Lisa Forbes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2019 to Question 375 on Thomas Cook: Insolvency, how many permanent staff are based at Peterborough Jobcentre; and how many staff from neighbouring offices are working from Peterborough Jobcentre on a temporary basis to meet any increased demand on services since the collapse of Thomas Cook.

Mims Davies: There are 91 permanent staff based at Peterborough Jobcentre. The office received the help of 6 additional staff from around the District and neighbouring offices to meet increased demand. All but one returned to their offices last week. There is one person remaining who will return to their home department this week. In addition, overtime was granted to provide extra capacity to meet the demand from and provide support to former Thomas Cook employees.

Universal Credit

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many errors there were in the processing of universal credit applications in (a) the UK, (b) London and (c) Bethnal Green and Bow in 2018-19.

Guy Opperman: The Department is committed to ensuring we are paying the right people the right amount of Universal Credit. We published a ‘Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2018 to 2019 estimates’ report in May 2019 and this includes information and data across benefit types, including Universal Credit. It can be accessed online using the link below. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-financial-year-2018-to-2019-estimates Nationally, our latest published data shows that consistently around 85 per cent of new Universal Credit claimants are being paid in full and on time. In the vast majority of cases, where full payment is not made on time, it is due to unresolved issues such as: claimants not accepting their Claimant Commitment or passing identity checks, or having outstanding verification issues, such as housing costs and self-employed earnings. Verification is a necessary part of any benefits system, and taxpayers expect these measures to be in place.

Maternity Allowance

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times the estimated number of working days required to process a claim for maternity allowance has changed in each of the last five years.

Mims Davies: There have been two changes to DWP messaging to indicate the estimated number of days to process a Maternity Allowance claim; both this year.

Social Security Benefits: Suicide

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 30 September 2019 to Question 290669 on Social Security Benefits: Suicide, if she will place in the Library a copy of the note setting out the (a) (i) reasons and (ii) justifications for that response and (b) full costs of answering that Question.

Justin Tomlinson: The answer of the 30th September to Question 290669 had no separate note, however, in the interests of transparency for information and ease of reference, I can advise that the following points were considered in providing the previous answer: There is no requirement for a coroner to inform the Department of the outcome of an inquest unless it specifically relates to the Department, for example Reg. 28 Prevention of Future Deaths report. There was no corporate memory for Coroners cases prior to the Coroners Focal Point being set up in 2016. Despite the existence of the Focal Point, we know that Coroners interact with areas of the Department without liaising with the Focal Point nor Legal Services. When submitting evidence to Inquests, the Department would not necessarily know the inquest related to a suicide as cause is not established at that point. There is no requirement for Coroners to advise the department of findings of suicide. Communication from Coroners can enter the Department at multiple points. There is therefore no robust central record of these contacts. To establish that we are certain we have all information to answer such questions would require a broad spectrum query to be sent out to the business. Answering the question would require us to contact the multiple possible entry points through which a Coroner can contact the Department. Conduct a thorough search. Collate the information and provide the answer within the limited time allowed by a named day question. This is not possible within the costs laid out in Parliamentary guidance. The Department takes the welfare of vulnerable clients seriously and where the department is made aware of a suicide of a customer a review is undertaken. This process is being updated and strengthened to further improve how we identify, review and learn from serious cases, including those involving suicide.

Social Security Benefits: Wolverhampton

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the effect of delays at Wolverhampton Mail Handling site on the processing of applications for benefits.

Mims Davies: The Royal Mail Group has confirmed that there are no delays in Wolverhampton Mail Handling site. All DWP post that is received at Wolverhampton Mail Handling site is actioned, cleared and sent to the DWP Mail Opening Unit on the same day of receipt and there are currently no backlogs.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

National Parks: Finance

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 8 October to Question 293611, what specific funding for National Parks is included under which headings; and if she will publish the (a) Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit, (b) Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit and (c) Annually Managed Expenditure funding allocated to National Parks for 2019-20.

George Eustice: The planned funding for National Parks is entirely Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit and totals £48,782,405. This sits under Rural Development Programme Policy and Outdoor Recreation.

Home Office

Musicians: EEA Nationals

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the status of visiting musicians from EEA countries to the UK will be after December 2020.

Brandon Lewis: The UK already has a wide range of options to cater for the mobility needs of artists, entertainers and musicians, including those wishing to visit the UK. The Home Office is working with DCMS and the creative sector to ensure that our future immigration system continues to support the thriving cultural life of the UK.We will announce the details of the UK’s future system early next year. This will provide time for people and businesses to adapt ahead of the implementation of the new system from January 2021.

Burglary: North Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of burglaries were committed in the (a) Vale of Clwyd constituency and (b) North Wales Police area in each year since 2010; and how many and what proportion of those burglaries involved a violent assault.

Kit Malthouse: The Home Office collects data on the number of burglaries recorded by the police in England and Wales and these data are published quarterly. It is not possible to separately identify the number of burglaries that involved a violent assault in the information that we hold centrally. However, data is available on the number of aggravated burglary offences. These includes burglaries in which an offender is in possession of any firearm or imitation firearm, other weapon or explosive at the time of committing the offence.Data for North Wales Police Force Area and for Vale of Clwyd constituency (Denbighshire Community Safety Partnership (CSP) encompasses this constituency) can be found in open data tables here back to the financial year 2002/03:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

Firearms: Licensing

Sir Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether European Firearms Passes currently held will be valid in the weeks immediately after the UK leaves the EU.

Kit Malthouse: Once the United Kingdom leaves the EU, we expect that UK residents travelling to EU countries with their firearm or shotgun will no longer be able to use a European Firearms Pass. They would instead have to comply with whatever licensing or other requirements that other EU countries impose.This will not impact on the UK’s domestic firearms controls. EU nationals bringing firearms temporarily into the UK will continue to require a visitors’ firearm permit issued by a UK police force.The Government has published a technical notice setting out information on the potential loss of the European Firearms Pass, to allow UK businesses and citizens to make informed plans and preparations, on gov.uk.

Fire and Rescue Services: Staff

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the number of firefighters.

Kit Malthouse: Fire and rescue services have the resources they need to do their important work.Operational decisions are for each fire and rescue authority to make as part of the integrated risk management planning process and it is for individual fire and rescue services to make decisions on the number of firefighters they employ.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Islam

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many staff in his Department reported their religion as Islam in the latest period for which figures are available; what the reported ethnicity of those staff was; and how many of those staff were employed at each grade.

Kevin Foster: The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales is not an employer in its own right. The Ministry of Justice is the employer of staff working in the Office. As at 30 September 2019, fewer than five staff had recorded Muslim as their religion or belief. To protect the identification of staff, an exact number cannot therefore be provided nor their ethnicity or grade disclosed.

Scotland Office

Food Poverty: Scotland

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the effect on levels of food poverty in Scotland of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Mr Alister Jack: The Government has been clear that leaving the EU with a deal is its preferred option and is in the interests of Scotland and the UK as a whole. The Government has put in place contingency plans for a range of exit scenarios. These contingencies include ensuring that the Department for Work and Pensions can continue to provide its vital services and that individuals will continue to be able to access benefits and services on the same basis as they do now.

Police Scotland

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for the effectiveness of Police Scotland of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Mr Alister Jack: I have regular discussions with the Home Secretary and other colleagues on a number of matters. I am aware that Home Office officials have been working closely with counterparts in the Devolved Administrations as well as with policing representatives to ensure that a joined up approach is taken to planning for EU Exit. The UK Government remains committed to managing the policing implications of EU Exit in the UK through a collective approach, working with the devolution of policing in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Police Scotland is represented at a number of strategic groups created for EU Exit, including the police-led EU Exit Strategic and Regional Leads Group, and input into key planning structures.

Scotland Office: Islam

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many staff in his Department reported their religion as Islam in the latest period for which figures are available; what the reported ethnicity of those staff was; and how many of those staff were employed at each grade.

Mr Alister Jack: The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland does not employ staff directly. All staff that join do so on an assignment, loan or secondment from other government bodies, principally the Ministry of Justice and the Scottish Government, who remain the employers.Detailed information in relation to the ethnicity of staff is not held by the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland; this information is held by the parent employers.

Northern Ireland Office

British Nationality

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the statement by the Irish Taoiseach on 15 October 2019 that British citizenship laws are out of step with the Good Friday Agreement.

Julian Smith: The Government remains firmly committed to upholding the Belfast Agreement and the rights it protects, including the birthright of all the people of Northern Ireland to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British or both, and the right to hold both British and Irish citizenship.

Abortion and Marriage: Northern Ireland

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to (a) reform abortion laws and (b) extend same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland.

Julian Smith: The Government plans to have regulations in place on abortion law and same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland by the dates stipulated in the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc.) Act 2019. Given the Northern Ireland Executive was not restored by 21 October 2019, the Government is therefore under a legal duty to comply with sections 8 and 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc.) Act 2019 to: a) bring forward regulations to enable same-sex marriage and opposite-sex civil partnerships in Northern Ireland by 13 January 2020; and b) bring forward regulations for a new legal framework for abortion to be in place in Northern Ireland by 31 March 2020.

Northern Ireland Office: Islam

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many staff in his Department reported their religion as Islam in the latest period for which figures are available; what the reported ethnicity of those staff was; and how many of those staff were employed at each grade.

Julian Smith: Due to there being fewer than five members of staff reporting their religion as Islam in my Department, figures cannot be provided in order to protect the privacy and identity of individuals concerned.

Treasury

Mortgages

Scott Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to improve accessibility to the mortgage market for (a) self-employed people and (b) small business owners.

John Glen: The Government is committed to maintaining an accessible mortgage market. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is responsible for regulating the market and protecting consumers, found in their Mortgage Market Study, published March 2019, that the market is working well and that consumers have access to mortgages that are suitable and affordable.The FCA recognises that lenders should have flexibility to decide what type of evidence of income they can accept from customers, including those who are self-employed or have alternative sources of income. Many lenders also offer custom mortgage products designed for contractors, the self-employed and small business owners. These commonly include features designed to account for income volatility, such as the ability to make capital repayments at any time, or income assessments using averaged figures to smooth out monthly variations. Beyond the FCA’s regulations, decisions about the type and availability of mortgage products are commercial decisions for lenders, and the Government does not seek to intervene in these decisions.

Cystic Fibrosis: Drugs

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will made an assessment of the potential merits of waiving tax on generic versions of lifesaving cystic fibrosis drugs entering the UK from Argentina until an agreement between NHS England and Vertex can be agreed.

Jesse Norman: UK Government policy is that there is no VAT on drugs prescribed by a qualified professional. HM Treasury keeps all taxes under review but there are no plans to extend the zero rate to other products at this time. EU trade policy applies to the UK until the UK leaves the EU. The “Common Customs Tariff” must be applied by all EU members to the import of goods into the EU. The European Commission negotiates trade agreements and manages the tariff. In March, the Government announced the Temporary Tariff Regime for the import of goods to the UK in the event of a no deal Brexit. In October, the Government confirmed this policy. The rates contained within the Temporary Tariff Regime would apply for a period of up to 12 months. Under the Temporary Tariff Regime, imports of medicinal drugs will be eligible for tariff-free access. During this temporary period, the Government will undertake a full public consultation to inform the UK’s permanent tariff policy.

Economic Growth and Taxation

Catherine West: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has been made of the effect on (a) economic growth and (b) withheld investment as a result of recent developments on the proposals for the UK leaving the EU.

John Glen: Agreeing the Withdrawal Agreement is self-evidently in our economic interest. It would bring an end to the damaging uncertainty and delay of the past years, and allow businesses to get on with taking decisions, including around recruitment and investment. Approving the Withdrawal Agreement would also allow us to get on with the process of agreeing a mutually beneficial new trading relationship with our European friends - a comprehensive and ambitious free trade agreement (FTA). The specifics of our own agreement will be the subject of the next phase of negotiations. We will keep Parliament updated throughout those discussions and provide analysis at appropriate points. The OBR will, of course, continue to take Government policy – including the UK’s future relationship with the EU – as the basis for its economic and fiscal forecasts, and will provide its usual comprehensive analysis as part of these.

Forests: North of England

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to support the work of the Northern Forest in the next Budget.

Mr Simon Clarke: In 2018 the government supported the launch of the Northern Forest with a £5.7m grant to be distributed over four years. This includes the £2.1m Partnership Innovation Fund, managed by the Woodland Trust, which will match fund the planting of 1 million trees by 2022. The government is on course to plant 11 million trees in England this Parliament (2017-2022), with at least 3.6 million trees (2,318 hectares) of woodland planted since April 2017, and over 15 million trees planted since 2010. At Budget 2018, the government announced an additional £60 million for tree planting initiatives in England, comprising £10 million to fund urban tree planting through the Urban Tree Challenge Fund, and £50 million for a Woodland Carbon Guarantee scheme.

Companies

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of revenue lost to the public purse as a result of incorrect filings of dormant companies in each year for which figures are available.

Jesse Norman: The information requested is not available. HM Revenue and Customs do not make an estimate of the amount of revenue lost as a result of incorrect filings of dormant companies.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received Specified Adult Childcare Credits in each of the last three years.

Jesse Norman: The table below shows the number of approved applications for Specified Adult Childcare Credits over the last three calendar years. The figures for 2019 are provided up to and including September. 2019 – to date11,797201811,080201711,522

Offshore Funds: Government Controlled Companies and Government Departments

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what rules his Department has implemented in relation to payments made by (a) Government Departments and (b) Government-controlled companies to offshore bank accounts.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what rules his Department has implemented in relation to the maximum amount of money (a) Government Departments and (b) Government-controlled companies can hold in offshore bank accounts.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the amount of money held in offshore bank accounts by (a) Government Departments and (b) Government-controlled companies in the 2018-2019 financial year.

John Glen: HM Treasury does not set specific policies on making payments to or from offshore bank accounts, on their specific use or on the maximum balances that may be held in them. Relevant guidance falls under HM Treasury’s general policies contained in Managing Public Money on holding funds outside of the Exchequer or Government Banking accounts where there is a business case for doing so. This information is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-public-money Information on the amount of money specifically held in offshore bank accounts is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Public Appointments

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which public appointments she is responsible for.

Helen Whately: The public appointments that the department is responsible for making are set out in the Schedule to the Public Appointments Order in Council 2019. https://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019-Public-Appointments-Order-In-Council.pdf

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Lobbying

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much his Department's agencies and non-departmental public bodies spent from the public purse on influencing public policy through (a) employing external (i) public affairs companies, (ii) strategic consultancies and (iii) corporate communications firms, (b) external marketing and (c) other activities in each of the last 10 years.

Nigel Adams: The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Public Buildings: Flags

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to replace the flag of Europe with the Union Flag on all public buildings after 31 October 2019.

Helen Whately: Except for the flying of the Union Flag on Designated Days there is no specific government policy regarding the flying of flags and no guidance is issued to Government bodies to fly the EU Flag.

Data Protection: Government Departments

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2019 to Question 74 on Government Departments: Data Protection, if she will place in the Library a copy of each Government department's contingency plan.

Nigel Adams: The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport does not hold contingency plans for departments centrally. DCMS has worked with government departments to assess data protection risks and support their mitigating activity. Departmental contingency plans are individually owned by departments, which are responsible for mitigating their own data risks.

Badminton and Football: Racial Discrimination

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Football Association on racism in football and (b) Badminton England on racism in badminton.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of levels of racism in local (a) football and (b) badminton clubs.

Nigel Adams: We strongly condemn the recent incidents of racism in sport both at home and abroad. There is no place anywhere for racism in sport and we want it stamped out at every level of competition. Government ministers and officials regularly meet the football authorities and other sports governing bodies, including the Football Association and Badminton England, to discuss a wide range of issues, including how we can work together to tackle racism.

Broadband

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether it is Government policy to deliver full fibre broadband to to all premises by 2025.

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether it is Government policy to deliver 1 gigabit connections to all premises by 2025.

Nicky Morgan: The Government is determined to secure nationwide coverage of gigabit capable broadband as soon as possible. Both the Prime Minister and I have set out the Government's ambition to achieve this by 2025. We expect full fibre broadband and upgraded cable networks to play a major role in delivering our ambitions but we are also open to other technologies, such as 5G fixed wireless access, providing they can deliver similar outcomes for consumers.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the underspend of the National Citizen Service was in each of the last five years.

Nicky Morgan: The underspend of the National Citizen Service against its Government Grant for the last five years is presented in the table below: FY2014/152015/162016/172017/182018/19Underspend**£25.4m£7.80m£10.10m * NCS programme was sponsored by the Cabinet Office in these years. DCMS will confirm the NCS underspends with the Cabinet Office and write to the Hon member on this matter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the House library.

Pornography: Internet

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the cost to the public purse was of developing policy on Age Verification for online pornography since 2015.

Matt Warman: Development costs from 2015-2016 were met through existing DCMS headcount resources. Since 2016, the government has spent approximately £2.2million through a contractual agreement with the British Board for Film Classification to implement age verification for online pornography. Building on on that work, we are now establishing how the objectives of Part Three of the Digital Economy Act can be delivered through our online harms regime.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Housing: Energy

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government plans to take to improve the energy performance of owner-occupied dwellings.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Housing: Standards

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timeframe is for the implementation of option 2 in the the report on the scoping review of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System.

Esther McVey: The process to procure a supplier will begin in the coming weeks with work expected to begin in the new year.

Social Rented Housing: Regulation

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the results of his Department's consultation entitled, Consultation on changes to the intervention, enforcement and use of powers guidance, published in June 2019.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Rented Housing: Tenancy Agreements

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many people living in social housing have been denied the right to succeed a tenancy after the death of their parent(s) in (a) London and (b) Bethnal Green and Bow constituency in the 12 months.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many building owners of blocks over 18 metres in height have (a) not started the process of cladding removal from affected buildings and (b) do not have a remediation plan for the repair work in place.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Housing: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of homes in England that have been valued at £0 as a result of surveyors being unable to confirm that (a) cladding and (b) insulation in those homes was not flammable.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Housing: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the fires at Samuel Garside House in Barking Riverside, Beechmere retirement complex in Crewe and Sherbrooke Way in Worcester Park, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of banning the use of timber cladding in residential buildings.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's data release entitled, Building Safety Programme: Monthly Data Release for August 2019, published on 12 September 2019, how many of the 1,494 non-ACM cladding samples held at the Building Research Establishment are timber cladding.

Esther McVey: I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 234718 on of 27 March 2019.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether (a) social tenants and (b) leasehold tenants will be liable for the cost of remedial fire safety in a block of flats housing both groups which is owned by a Housing Association.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019

Sir Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timeframe is for the coming into force of the provisions of the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019.

Luke Hall: The government is committed to developing and implementing the Code of Practice as soon as possible. We are currently considering the options for the delivery of the Code and the design of the levy on industry, as well as the format for stakeholder engagement. We will make an announcement in due course. We are also committed to carrying out a public consultation on the draft Code of Practice, allowing all interested parties to directly respond to the proposals.

Attorney General

Prison Sentences: Hampshire

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of requests to his Department in relation to a custodial sentence from people in Hampshire fall outside of the unduly lenient sentence scheme.

Michael Ellis: In 2018, of the 20 requests that were received for sentences handed down in Winchester, Portsmouth and Southampton Crown Court, 9 fell out of the remit of the scheme. Therefore 45% fell outside the scheme. In 2019, to date, of the 16 requests that were received for the sentences handed down in Winchester and Southampton Crown Court, 6 fell out of the remit of the scheme. Therefore 38% fell outside the scheme.